The people have spoken – Only 3% have paid household charge

Cllr Anthony Kelly has renewed his call on the government to reverse the Household Charge, claiming the fact that only 3% of the population has paid the household charge to be a clear indication of the true will of the Irish people. The Sinn Féin councillor urged the government to back down now and avoid a devastating stand-off with their people which will benefit no one.

“Following a Sinn Féin parliamentary question, it has been revealed that only 3% of the population have paid the household charge,” Cllr Kelly said, “This is a clear indication that the greater majority of Irish people oppose this charge and consider it a tax too far. Out of a total of 1.8 million households only 63,011 have registered, while just 51,401 of the 1.6 million households liable have paid the charge.”

“From the start my colleagues and I have made it clear that we support those who choose not to pay the charge, but we will not call for non payment. Sinn Féin fully opposes the household charge but cannot justify calling on people not to pay and to face the full wrath of the government in this economic crisis.”

“Recently I have been informed that literature has been circulated which claims that it is not obligatory to register or to pay the household charge. This information is false and those circulating it are misleading innocent families into believing that there will be no consequences to not paying this charge. The Household Charge Bill is clear; those who do not register or pay can be issued with a class C fine.”

“This government must recognise that the Irish people won’t back down on this issue. Fining thousands of already struggling Irish families will do no one any good. Sinn Féin is calling on the government to back down and to scrap the Household Charge immediately. I’m calling on all elected members of Fine Gael, Labour, Fianna Fail and the other parties in this county to stand by their constituents now by joining our call for the full reversal of this charge. The only way to stop the Household Tax and conflict between our government and thousands of families is to scrap the charge now.”