Household Tax Boycott will not be defeated by intimidation

A spokesperson for the Campaign against the Household Tax in County Wexford has said that the fight to over-rule the unfair charge is not over by a long shot. Ferns based fire-fighter Dominick Gaughan, responding to Minister Phil Hogan’s decision to send out thousands of warning letters to those who had not paid the controversial charge, said that the Campaign against Household and Water Taxes (CAHWT) had a series of new public meetings and protests events lined up across the state, including weekly pickets outside the constituency office of Fine Gael TD Paul Kehoe.

“The sending out of these threatening letters will not break the resolve of those people who have taken a stand and boycotted this unfair tax,” Mr Gaughan said. “According to the latest official figures released at the end of June, just over half of the homes in County Wexford have registered to pay the household charge.”

“The Local Government Management Agency continues to issue thinly veiled threats that penalties and interest continue to accrue for properties not yet registered. This is a form of intimidation, just as the sending out of these bullying letters is another.”

“The government has indicated that they will send out three of these warning letters before any court action is taken. It is important that people realise the reality of this situation. There are over 700,000 people who are not registered across the state. It is ludicrous to even consider for a minute that the government is capable of taking that many people to court and prosecuting them all. It would take years to complete this process.”

“This government could not prosecute everyone within its term. Even if it could, would any government want to bring nearly a quarter of the electorate to court?”

“We are determined that we will not allow this tax to be forced on us, but we are also taking a stand to prevent it being imposed on our children and our grandchildren. They are asking us to pay €100 a year for the privilege of living in our own home now, and we know that this charge coupled with others coming down the line would have us paying €1000 next year or the year after. What we don’t know is how much they will have our kids pay when it comes their time to be taxed if we give in now.”

“We won’t give in. The government has chosen to pick a fight with the people and it’s a fight that they will lose. The CAHWT in County Wexford is now holding weekly pickets outside the office of Deputy Paul Kehoe in Enniscorthy. These pickets are peaceful and designed to show the government that the opposition to this tax has not gone away. We are also organising a mass rally in Dublin on Wednesday the 18th of July. We will meet at Central Bank, Dame St. at 5pm and march to the Dáil.”

“Buses will be going up from County Wexford. Anyone interested in attending what will be a peaceful, family orientated march can book a seat on one of our buses now by contacting me at 087-7978011.”