Dublin South West TD Seán Crowe has called on the Minister for Finance Michael Noonan and Revenue Chief Josephine Feehily to bring some clarity and answers to concerns that the local walk-in Tallaght Revenue office is to close for the entire month of August.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“The muted and late announcement that the Revenue office in Tallaght is to close for the month of August has raised the natural fear and concerns that this is a test run to gauge the public reaction to a more permanent closure.

“The busy ‘walk-in’ office is currently open Wednesday to Friday and dealt with about 50,000 cases last year.

“I cannot understand the rationale behind this latest closure and I am sure the busy 14 staff are also concerned at what the future holds for their office.

“Revenue by its very nature is complicated and phone access doesn’t always satisfy more difficult queries, so a walk-in facility is vital in many cases.

“Having had to go into the office in town recently and experience at first hand a queue where 60 other tax payers were ahead of me, I empathise with anyone who has sort out their tax affairs this month.

“This August closure will inevitably impact negatively on people of Tallaght and their office catchment area. It will mean longer time off work to deal with tax affairs and discommode a lot of already hard pressed taxpayers.

“I have written to Finance Minister Michael Noonan and the Revenue Chair Josephine Feehily asking to them to explain why the busy office is closing, if it’s a temporary measure, what is to happen to staff and what the is the rationale behind the closure.”