THE CHAIRPERSON OF the Revenue Commissioners, Josephine Feehily, has said that she has almost more confidence in the property tax helpline it uses following allegations of fraud.

It emerged yesterday that an operator on the line has been suspended after unnecessarily asking customers for their credit card details.

Feehily told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland this morning that the issue was raised by a customer using the helpline. She said that “nobody has suffered a loss”, which is the “most important” thing.

The Revenue is going to continue using the company, Abtran, said Feehily. A worker at Cork-based Abtran’s telephone property tax helpline has been suspended following allegations that they inappropriately asked callers for their credit card details.

The worker attempted to “effect transactions” but failed to do so, the company said. The incidents are now under investigation and gardaí have spoken to the employee involved, but there have been no arrests.

Confident

Feehily said that “in some ways I’d almost be more confident” in Abtran, saying the company is “very professional” and that it got a “fright” over the incident. She said that Revenue are expecting that their calls “will be monitored even more closely” and the service provided will be even more secure.

Calls are dealt with by Abtran staff, but if they need to be escalated, are then sent on to Revenue staff. When asked if customers will mind not speaking to someone from Revenue on the helpline, Feehily said she didn’t think so, and that:

I think that it’s about providing them with a secure, professional and competent service.

Feehily said that she would like to assure people they can have trust in the helpline, and that the calls are supervised daily by her officers and there are Revenue employees working with Abtran and monitoring the calls closely.

She added that she is satisfied that the issue came to light, and that it was handled professionally. Revenue will be meeting with Abtran to review all of their policies following this incident.

Any customer with concerns about their payment can contact a dedicated Revenue number, 1890 22 63 36. This is a separate helpline and is not the one operated by Abtran.

Read: Property Tax helpline staff member investigated over alleged card fraud>