Taoiseach and Higgins clash over €100 tax on households

TAOISEACH ENDA Kenny and Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins clashed in the Dáil over the introduction of the €100 household charge.

The charge comes into effect for up to 1.6 million households on January 1st, after the Local Government (Household Charge) Bill passed all stages last night.

Mr Kenny claimed the campaign against bin charges led by Mr Higgins in 2003 “led directly to the privatisation of bin services”. He made the allegation after Mr Higgins claimed the Taoiseach would become “the Captain Boycott of austerity in this country, imposing the will of the IMF-EU and bleeding our people”, referring to the 1880 controversy about the British land agent Charles Boycott in Co Mayo.

He also claimed the Taoiseach was involved in a “disgraceful campaign of intimidation of threatening householders with fines of €2,500 for non-registration”, which he said would be resisted.

Socialist Party TD Clare Daly and Independent TD Thomas Pringle have both said they would not pay the charge, nor register for it and encouraged others not to pay. Dublin South Central Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh announced in the Dáil yesterday he would not pay the charge, but he would not encourage others to do so without them knowing the full consequences of their action.

He criticised the commitment to “spend €1 billion installing water meters” while failing to invest in preventing water leaks of up to 40 per cent of total supply.

Mr Kenny staunchly defended the €100 charge, insisting the money was necessary to fund public services. “This is a €2 charge a week for vital services,” and the funds would go toward “fire services and libraries and street cleaning”.

These “are all funded by the exchequer up until now and it’s necessary that citizens understand that they can make a contribution of €2 for these services”.

Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan, who introduced the legislation, had warned that those who did not pay would be pursued, and face a possible penalty of up to €2,500 with debts levied on their estate in the case of death.

Mr Kenny said the €160 million expected income was based on the number of properties in the State.

There were waivers including for those on mortgage interest supplement, on housing supports or rent supplement, and those in certain unfinished housing estates.

However, Mr Higgins criticised the charge, claiming it was common knowledge it will “grow quickly to €1,000” under pressure from the EU and IMF.

“This will be met with a massive campaign of opposition from Donegal to Wexford, from Kerry right back to Dublin,” Mr Higgins said, adding that most local authorities had privatised their bin services before the Dublin protest.

Mr Kenny said: “I always thought that Kerry people understood that there’s nothing free in this world, that when you turn on the tap, somebody’s got to pay to put the water in there in the first place.”

Mr Higgins said “people in Kerry, Mayo and Dublin understand that nothing is free because they pay for it already”.

The Dublin West TD said the Taoiseach was due in March next year to pay €1.2 billion to a single unsecured bondholder in the former Anglo Irish Bank. “You could keep €200 million, give it to the local authorities and give people a break.”

Mr Kenny said the range of people excluded from the charge is “extensive”. He added that budget decisions meant there was no change in income tax rates for workers and 330,000 workers had been taken out of the universal social charge.

But People Before Profit TD Joan Collins said “the Government is giving them back €4 a week and then taking €2 a week off them”.