HOUSEHOLDS IN Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown remain at the top of the national table for those registered for the household charge, the latest figures have shown.
A breakdown of the registration figures as of last Thursday, October 18, show a total of 1,075,605 homes as having either paid the charge – including the appropriate penalties, where applicable – or sought a waiver from it.
With the government estimating that a total of 1,620,814 houses are eligible to either pay or seek waivers from the charge, the compliance rate stands at 66.4 per cent – or just under two-thirds of homes.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown’s compliance rate, of 84 per cent, significantly higher than any other council area. Galway City has the second-highest rate, at 75 per cent, while Mayo and Kerry both have compliance rates of 72 per cent.
Dublin City and North Tipperary have 71 per cent compliance, while Clare has 70 per cent. Sligo and Leitrim are on 69 per cent, while Wicklow and Limerick City stand on 68 per cent, and Roscommon, Westmeath and South Tipperary are on 67 per cent.
At the other end of the scale, Donegal remains the county with the lowest payment rate – only 34,955 of the 65,331 eligible homes have paid or sought a waiver. This means a 54 per cent compliance rate, well below the average.
Offaly also has a relatively low compliance rate, at 57 per cent, while nearby Laois is on 59 per cent, as is Louth. Neighbours Meath have a compliance rate of 60 per cent, behind South Dublin on 62 per cent.
Figures for Friday October 19, though not including a county-by-county breakdown, show an additional 600-or-so houses had been registered on Friday. If that rate is considered a daily average, the numbers registered would now effectively stand at exactly two-thirds of all eligible homes.
The Friday figures showed that a total of €107 million had been raised through the household charge scheme so far. The government had hoped to raise €160 million with full compliance.
Environment minister Phil Hogan has withheld some instalments of the Local Government Fund grants for each council based on each county’s progress in encouraging households to register.
The property charge will be superseded by a property tax to take effect in the coming Budget.
The figures for homes ‘registered’ include those who have either paid the charge or registered for a waiver, where eligible to do so. The latter figure is the estimated number of properties liable either to register or seek a waiver, according to Department of the Environment estimates.
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