THE GOVERNMENT’S €100 household charge faced harsh criticism from all Dáil Opposition groups yesterday.
The charge will be introduced in January ahead of a full value-based property tax and separate water charge in 2014.
The charge in January will apply to 1.6 million households, thereby generating €160 million annually, the Government confirmed yesterday.
Fianna Fáil’s environment spokesman Niall Collins said he was surprised Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan had pressed ahead with what he described as an “indiscriminate flat-rate” tax following the Government’s success last week in reducing the payments on the bailout package by €1 billion.
Mr Collins said the Government had missed a real opportunity to ease the burden on Irish households struggling with bills.
“There were significant savings for Ireland resulting from developments in the euro zone; they have refused to pass on any of these savings to cash-strapped households across the country.”
He claimed the Government was now pursuing a stealth tax agenda.
He said the new tax completely contradicted the sentiments on such charges voiced by Fine Gael and Labour during the general election campaign.
Aengus Ó Snodaigh of Sinn Féin also claimed the Government parties had abandoned pre-election promises. He said it was clear the flat charges were a precursor to property taxes and water charges, which would hit the most vulnerable in society.
The United Left Alliance (ULA) announced yesterday it would mount a nationwide campaign against the tax.
Richard Boyd Barrett of the ULA and People Before Profit claimed it was a poll tax. He characterised it as innately unfair as very wealthy people would be charged the same as poorer families.
ULA colleague Joe Higgins of the Socialist Party said it was another attack on low-income families and was a tax that would inevitably “rocket to €500 and upwards” within a short period.
“It’s a curtain-raiser for further burdens such as water charges and a property tax on every home.”
The ULA confirmed that a national campaign of opposition would be launched, calling for a boycott of the charge.
Workers’ Party president Michael Finnegan also called for “massive and determined resistance against the new household charge”.
Age Action warned low-income pensioners who own their homes and who were already having to deal with a cut in gas and electricity allowances would be among the hardest hit.
“The combined impact of those cuts and the new charge amounts to the equivalent of one week’s pension,” said the charity’s spokesman Eamon Timmins. “For people already on the breadline this will cause real difficulty.”
Trade union Siptu president Jack O’Connor said while they accepted the Government was bound to introduce a property charge under the EU-IMF rescue deal, it could have brought in a more progressive tax.
“A ‘household charge’ or property tax is a potentially progressive instrument. It could be a means by which wealthier people in our society, especially those who have the flexibility to manipulate their declaration of incomes for taxation purposes, could make a contribution reflecting their ability to pay,” Mr O’Connor said.
“This could be achieved if the charge is related to the size and location of the property.
“However, the measure as proposed does not facilitate a proportionate contribution from the wealthy. In fact it is quite a regressive interpretation of the obligation as enshrined in the memorandum of agreement.”
