AROUND 200 HOMEOWNERS signed up to a County Galway campaign against the household and septic tank charges.
The organisers of the meeting, No Household Tax, said that it was held at the Harbour Hotel last night for them to share their opinion on how “both the household and septic tank charges will be defeated by a widespread campaign of non-registration and non-payment”.
The meeting was addressed by ULA TD Clare Daly and Padraig An Táilliúra Ó Conghaola of Connemara Against the Septic Tank Charge.
Clare Daly told the packed gathering how “only mass non-payment” would defeat the charge.
She said:
From next week the Government will begin a campaign of scaremongering and intimidation to coax people into paying, but we will be ready to counter their lies. By St Patrick’s day we must aim to have a huge number of people still refusing to register or pay.
She added that meetings, rallies and protests had already taken place and said “the appetite for opposition and non-payment is huge”.
Daly said she believes that “if enough of us refuse to pay then there is absolutely no way they can retaliate”.
Padraig An Táilliúra said that people in rural areas are under attack on a number of fronts.
With regard to the government, he asked: “Do they not realise that it is not the €50 charge that people are opposed to, but the huge cost and double taxation that the inspections will bring in. Bringing the initial charge dwon to €5 is nothing but an insult to rural people. If the charge was 5cent we would still not be paying it.”
Speakers from the floor expressed “anger and frustration at the burdening of ordinary people with the debt of billionaires”, said the organisers.
The news comes after Environment Minister Phil Hogan said that there is ‘no excuse’ not to pay the septic tank charge.
To date, nearly 70,000 people have registered to pay the household charge, which can be done through the official website.
The government hopes to raise €160 million in total through this charge, which is €100 per household.
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