‘Still only 17% (272,000) have paid‘
We still have a big problem here boss? The threats are not registering with our people
Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has ruled out an extension to the registration deadline for the household charge.
The Labour Party leader and Minister for Foreign Affairs insisted the public had a choice of easy ways to pay the €100 levy, which is due by March 31st.
“There are no plans to extend the deadline,” he said. “The deadline is March 31st. The household charge has to be paid.”
It was an interim charge set by the Government pending the introduction of a property tax and it had to be paid, he added.
The Tánaiste said householders had the option of paying online, through their local authorities or by post but no direct payment can be made to or processed by An Post.
Mr Gilmore hit out at TDs and campaigners who are urging people not to make the payment, saying they were misleading the public.
The Government hopes to raise €160 million from the 1.6 million householders eligible for the tax. It says the charge will fund public services including libraries, footpaths and public parks.
Meanwhile, the Irish Postmasters’ Union criticised the Government for failing to make provisions for householders to pay the levy at their local post office.
General secretary Brian McGann called on Environment Minister Phil Hogan to make arrangements for the 1,100 post offices across the country to accept payments.
“At this late stage the Minister’s plans for collecting the charge are in disarray and yet he is not allowing the public to pay through the most accessible means available to hundreds of thousands of people,” said Mr McGann.
“We have a ludicrous situation where people are arriving at post offices with cash in hand expecting to be able to pay the charge, only to find that we are prevented from facilitating them. It just doesn’t make sense.”
He accused the Government of going out of its way to make it difficult for individuals to pay the flat charge and insisted much of the population had no access to the internet and could not avail of the online system.
According to latest figures, about 17 per cent some 272,000 of eligible householders have so far registered to pay the fee.
But the Government has insisted it is optimistic the majority will pay and that many people are simply leaving it to the last minute to do so.
Investigation by the Gardai after a Man dies following a Cavan house party
Gardai in County Cavan are investigating the death of a man following a house party at the weekend.
He died on Wednesday morning at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, after his life support machine was switched off.
On St Patrick’s Night, 17 March, a group of people including the dead man were at a party in the Rose Hill estate in the village of Mullagh.
A dispute arose and the 22-year-old man received serious injuries.
Gardai say at this stage they are investigating a suspicious death and are waiting for the results of a post mortem examination.
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