It is good news that the Government is taking the collection of pension and payroll taxes seriously after all. Finance Minister Paula Cox?s defence of her Ministry on Friday showed that efforts to pursue debtors have been ramped up in the last couple of years.

Perhaps the most telling comment she made was that additional efforts to pursue debtors unearthed further debts, which contributed to the 40 percent jump in arrears between 2002 and 2003.

That?s good and bad. It?s good that the missing money has been found. It?s bad that several million dollars of taxes had gone ?missing? without anyone realising it.

And it begs the question of whether there are more debtors hiding in the files of the Tax Commissioner and Accountant General?s offices.

Ms Cox also highlighted the fact that some $3 million in arrears had been repaid as a result of the appointment of three bad debt collectors. Given that the cost of staffing the section was $170,000, that is value for money.

While the law of diminishing returns comes into effect at some point, it would surely be worth adding more staff to the department in order to pursue other miscreants.

Ms Cox admits that more could be done. She is right. As noted in previous editorials, increasing the level of fines for non-payers is long overdue. Banning companies that are in arrears from bidding for or holding Government contracts is another step that should be taken.

Ms Cox claims that the Ministry is becoming more aggressive about prosecuting non-payers. But a review of newspaper records finds barely a mention of prosecutions over the last year. To be sure, some cases may have taken place unnoticed and it may be that the threat of court action is sufficient to get some debtors to start paying. But with $30 million in arrears, it does not appear that enough is being done.

And, of course, the fact is that these employers have broken the law and should be held accountable. Speeders do not avoid a trial because they promise to slow down.

It is worth noting that the Department of Social Insurance, which collects pension contributions, said in January 2003 that while the Department of Public Prosecutions had prosecuted all five of the cases referred to it in 2002, only two of the 33 cases referred to the Attorney General?s chambers in the same year had been. Sadly, no report is given for 2003.

Ms Cox and her Ministry deserve two cheers for taking arrears more seriously than was the case in the past ? under either party. But it is also clear that much more can and should be done.