SOME 16 members of the Commission on Taxation were paid a total of over €500,000 for their work in compiling its report on reforming the tax system, according to figures released by the Department of Finance.
The figure shows that the highest individual payment was to the chairman of the commission, the retired head of the Revenue Commissioners, Frank Daly, who was paid almost €120,000.
Mr Daly was paid fees of €1,000 for each half day or more, or €500 where a commitment of less than half a day was required.
However, Mr Daly agreed to a 20 per cent reduction in fees from September 2008, which resulted in a deduction of more than €20,000 in fees. His fees reflect a commitment of more than 120 days between March 2008 and August 2009.
Other members of the commission were paid €700 for more than half a day or €350 for less than half a day. The commission was established in February 2008 and was in existence for a little over 16 months.
Two members of the commission, Brendan Hayes of Siptu, and Feargal O’Rourke of PricewaterhouseCoopers, requested that no fees at all be paid to them and the return for both is nil. Mr Hayes was the only member of the commission to dissent from its conclusions and he was not a signatory to the final report which ran to more than 600 pages and included some 230 recommendations.
The highest fees paid to an ordinary member was €46,500 to Micheál Collins of the department of economics, Trinity College Dublin. His payment indicates that he committed some 66 full days to the commission over 18 months.
The next highest fees were €41,300 paid to Mary O’Sullivan of the Irish Banking Federation (59 days); and chartered accountant Mary Walsh, who was paid €38,850 (55½ days).
The lowest fees were paid to Deirdre Somers of the Irish Stock Exchange. However, her fees of €5,600 reflect the fact that she resigned from the commission in September 2008.
Former Department of Finance adviser Colin Hunt of Macquarie Bank received €7,000. That came about following his decision not to receive any fees after September 2008. Similarly Mark Redmond of the Irish Taxation Institute requested that fees not be paid from December 2008. His fees amounted to €15,700.
The fees paid to others were: Tom Arnold, CEO of Concern, €19,600; Julie Burke, JMB Tax Solicitors, €29,750; Frank Convery, professor of environment policy at UCD, €21,700; Tom Donohue, partner in Russell Brennan Keane chartered accountants, €28,350; Eoin Fahy, KCB Asset Management, €33,950; Sinead Leech, director Integral Finance and Technology, €32,200; Con Lucey, economist, IFA, €28,350; Danny McCoy, director of Ibec, €28,000 and Willie Soffe, Dublin Transportation Office, €36,500.
Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan was responding to a parliamentary question put by the Labour Party spokeswoman on finance Joan Burton. He said that the fees were in recognition of the commitment involved in participating in the commission.
“I understand that the commission is in the process of finalising arrangements with my department to pay the final tranche of fees that are due to members of the commission,” said Mr Lenihan.
He said that travel expenses amounted to a total of €537.60.