PSA MEDIA RELEASE

April 22, 2009
For Immediate Use

PSA alarmed up to 250 jobs being cut at Inland Revenue.

The Public Service Association is alarmed that Inland Revenue (IRD) is seeking to cut up to 250 jobs as the result of a government review of the department’s budget.

Staff at IRD have been told today that the department has to tighten its belt to live within its budget and that it’s seeking to reduce staff numbers through voluntary redundancies.

IRD has told staff it’s expecting to accept a maximum of 250 voluntary redundancies which would mean a 4% cut in its staff.

“We’re alarmed that IRD is cutting up to 250 staff, following a government review of its budget, when the department’s workload is increasing,” says PSA national secretary Richard Wagstaff.

“One million workers have joined KiwiSaver in just 21 months. That’s more than 2000 people joining every working day and yet IRD is cutting jobs because the government is cutting its budget,” says Richard Wagstaff. IRD also pays Working for Families tax credits to more than 280,000 families, manages 530,000 individual student loans worth $8.9 billion dollars and gathered $56 billion in tax revenue in the 2007-08 financial year.

“At the same time as its cutting jobs at IRD the government is increasing the department’s workload,” says Richard Wagstaff.

“We’ve just had tax cuts, which IRD staff must ensure are accurately implemented, and the government has also introduced legislation making changes to the collection of provisional tax and GST.”

‘We applaud the fact that these legislative changes are aimed at helping businesses with their cash flow during these tough times.”

“But we’re dismayed the government is cutting IRD staff when the department has a crucial role to play in helping businesses make it through the recession,” says Richard Wagstaff.

Staff cuts are being made throughout the public service as a result of the government conducting line-by-line reviews of department budgets.

“Jobs are being cut despite demand for public services increasing as a result of the global financial crisis,” says Richard Wagstaff.

“Our concern is that job cuts in the public service will push workloads to unmanageable levels that will threaten the provision of essential public services like those provided at IRD.”

“It’s time the government recognised that it’s cost cutting in the public sector is putting vital services at risk and taking away jobs from hard working New Zealanders who provide those vital services,” says Ri
chard Wagstaff.

ENDS

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