Call for review of tax helpline hiring policy

Revenue has asked Abtran, the company operating the property tax helpline, to conduct a full review of its recruitment policies after a staff member was suspended over alleged fraud.

Revenue has also asked that Abtran review its call- monitoring system for new employees.

It is understood the man, now at the centre of a Garda probe into alleged credit card fraud, had only been working at the Cork-based firm for a few weeks.

The man — understood to be in his early 20s and from Cork — allegedly obtained credit card details from 11 customers and then attempted to make a number of online purchases.

A bank contacted one of its clients over the attempted transactions, and they in turn contacted Revenue, which alerted Abtran.

The worker has now been suspended and is likely to face an internal disciplinary hearing at the firm.

It is understood Abtran combed through each of the 784 phonecalls recorded on its system in which the man interacted with customers, thereby isolating those in which the credit card details were sought and obtained.

By last Friday the man was approached by management about the issue and spoke with detectives.

Gardaí have confirmed they are not looking for anybody else in connection with the incident.

Abtran began dealing with calls regarding the property tax in March. It has dealt with about 300,000 calls, with 250 staff out of a workforce of 1,100 dealing with queries.

Abtran is also a part of the new Student Universal Support Ireland (Susi) grants system, which has been criticised for delays in processing applications.

However, a company spokesman last night said the latest allegations, which he said was “very regrettable”, had been spotted quickly because of the systems in place within Abtran, adding: “The public can have confidence in this system.”

Yesterday, Revenue chairwoman Josephine Feehily told RTÉ that data security was taken “extremely seriously” and that Abtran had the highest standards. She said Revenue would continue its contractual agreement with the firm.

*Anyone seeking reassurance on their dealings with Abtran can contact 1890 226336.