Attorney General. Revenue Commissioners
The Office of the Attorney General is represented in the Permanent Representation in the legal section. Staffed by an attaché assigned by the Office of the Attorney General, the legal section provides legal advice to the Permanent Representative to the EU, his Deputy and other staff.
The representatives of Ireland’s Revenue Commissioners in the Permanent Representation of Ireland work exclusively on Customs-related issues towards maximising Ireland’s contribution and influence on international tax and customs administrative issues.
International co-operation between tax and customs administrations is a necessary response to the worldwide mobility of wealth and economic activity. It is also a vital response to cross-frontier tax fraud and to the deepening international security concerns of recent years.
Revenue shares the responsibility for the external frontier of the EU with other Member States. It conducts joint operations with other administrations and shares its knowledge, expertise and experience. In doing so, Revenue is conscious of the need to ensure that it strikes the right balance between security and trade facilitation.
Within the Permanent Representation, Revenue focuses its contributions on the development of Customs policies at the EU and the World Customs Organisation (WCO) by:
- Fully participating in the formulation of EU policy and legislation both at Council and Commission level.
- Reflecting Government policy at the World Customs Organisation
- Developing close co-operation with international agencies in the fight against drug smuggling and other forms of transnational crime
- Assisting in the development of international security standards for Customs controls of maritime container traffic.
- Progressing recommendations of the EU and the WCO relating to supply chain security.