OVER HALF-A-dozen independent TDs took to the streets of Dublin today to urge members of the public to boycott the household charge.

TDs including Joe Higgins, John Halligan, Joan Collins, Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan, Richard Boyd-Barrett, Mick Wallace, Clare Daly and Seamus Healy handed out leaflets on Grafton Street as part of the Campaign Against Household and Water Taxes (CAHWT).

The campaign has urged a boycott of the €100 annual charge being levied on all homeowners with the government hoping to raise €160 million in revenue. At the beginning of the month nearly 70,000 households had paid the charge, less than 5 per cent of those expected to do so.

The government is stepping up its campaign by leafleting some 1.8 million households across the country.

Homeowners have until 1 March to set up a direct debit to pay the charge in instalments after which they will have to pay the charge in full by 31 March or else face fines of up to 30 per cent.

The government argues that the measure is necessary in order to raise revenue and as an interim measure before a graduated property tax is introduced either next year or in 2014. However those against the charge argue that it unfairly and disproportionately targeting the poor.

They were spreading that message on the streets of Dublin today: