asked the Minister for Finance if he will state, in respect of each of the last three financial periods for which figures are available (a) the number of persons paying income tax under PAYE; and (b) the amount collected from PAYE in each period.

As the reply is in the form of a tabular statement, I propose with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle to circulate it with the Official Report.

Following is the statement:

* NOTE: On 6th April 1976, some 120,000 taxpayers (mainly in the public service) were transferred to the PAYE system; they were previously assessed under Schedule E on a preceding year basis.