Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
SINN FÉIN SPOKESPERSON on the environment, community and local government, Brian Stanley TD, has accused Minister Phil Hogan of “spinning into the New Year” on the issue of the Household Charge.
Deputy Brian Stanley was responding to Minister Hogan’s statement today that 70 per cent of eligible households have paid the Household Charge. The Minister said that over 1.1 million people have now paid the charge, with €113.5 million having been collected and reallocated to local authorities.
Deputy Stanley told RTÉ’s Drivetime today that included in the numbers who Minister Hogan says have complied with the charge are some people entitled to exemptions and waivers.
Advertisement
Stanley described the household charge as “a disaster for this government”.
The Minister continues to spin his way from this year into the next. A significant 30 per cent of households have not paid this unjust charge posing a serious challenge for the government as it attempts to impose their new Fianna Fail-style family home tax.
He said Sinn Féin remain opposed to the household charge and the party will redouble its efforts to overturn the family home tax which follows in the new year.
The Revenue Commissioners will begin to collect funds for the charge from July. From the beginning of 2013, the charge will rise to €130, rising to €145 in June, and €200 in July.
Deputy Stanley also said that out of those who have paid, “many are extremely angry at this charge”. He also denied that Sinn Féin had told people no to pay the charge, saying they are “not telling people whether to pay or not to pay – that is an adult choice to make”.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
@ Ciaran.
It’s actually gas watching them jumping up & down like little jack russell terriers and accusing everybody with an opinion of being a “bully”.
Comical script coming from people that support a government that do nothing but bully people.
He wouldn’t know the truth if it bit him on his ample bottom.
He and his colleauges do more spinning than a Black& Decker drill.
They have no credibility at all in the eyes of their countrymen outside their own rose tinted (tainted) glasses.
Incorrect. There is support for the government, anger over some issues granted but not to the extent that they’d be massacred in an election tomorrow. You and a few like minded mates do not the electorate make.
Perhaps a gov that tells the truth to the people, one made up of genuine citizens who will help their country men and women and put them first, not the banks and the wealthy.
And speaking of Shite we’re now paying 12,000 euro a day due to Hogan’s incompetence in producing legislation for the septic tank issue in a timely manner and his delay in providing financial assistance for the remediation of septic tanks.
Well done to everyone that voted Fine Gael they k ow the Irish people don’t have balls between enda,noonan,and this b. l. X their getting too smart for their own good.noonan saying if you can pay for sky you can afford to pay household charge,anyone think that atleast if you pay for sky you get a good service pay the household and you will still have the potholes outside you door and still poor water supply so why pay it
You’re right Chris. Call a spade a spade. In any other walk of life it would be called lying. Politics should be no different. It’s lies, like all their pre-elections lies.
My bank owns my house as they hold the deeds of it. It will not be mine for another 15 years. So let them pay for the house hold charge till it becomes mine. Legally it’s theirs so the charge should reside with them. I won’t be paying it.
Wrong. Your name is on the deeds but the bank holds the deeds as security against the loan. It suprises me that people so financilly illiterate are issued motgages at all!
Reg, if you’re going to call people financially illiterate, at least try to spell it correctly, lest you be crushed under the weight of your own irony.
I’m having finger problems with these small touch screens. Will try harder next time! Don’t have any mortgages at the moment by the way. Sold up when the writing was on the wall ;-)
I’ve never seen any real proof of deeds or ownership , have you? Lol the money you borrowed for your mortgage never existed , a digital debt was generated when you signed your ” agreement ” to repay. Where does that leave us all ?
Sinn Fein will launch their campaign against the charge but aren’t telling people not to pay the charge.
Typical double speak waffle from this shower of wasters. If they can’t get a tax clearance cert next year, they can’t be in the Dail. Watch them que up to pay…
Bertie Ahern had not got one for over a decade – lack of one didn’t see him kicked out!
…But wait, now it must all of a sudden again be one rule for one lot and not for others – how convenient!
FG/Labour’s last failed attempt at a fiscal correction (1980′s) perished on failed attempt at taxing childrens shoes.
The current shower of incompetents have opted to tax the roofs over their heads instead.
Still haven’t learnt- You cannot tax an economy out of recession.
O’… you mean like Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fail have done over the abortion issue for 20 years?
I guess Sinn Fein have some catching up to do then? They are way behind the three main parties when it comes to sitting around on fences doing nothing!
What’s that saying about thee who has not sinned, cast the first stone?
Well put it this way . Why did SF not support the CAHWT from word one ?
That is all I am saying .
I do not know what your problem is . I do not support this dictatorship .
Sean it was fianna failure who agreed to have a property tax when they went to the IMF/ ECB to get money to bail out the banks for money when agreeing to pay back the rich people’s unsecured gambling debts. However the current bunch of FG/Labour are like a bunch of headless chickens running about not knowing what to do and trying to tax us out of recession that is true, if it wasn’t all so painful it would be funny. It’s just bad that we are all paying for the past and present government incompetence that is no longer fit for purpose. IMO the bankers & politicians need to be jailed for treason and putting the country into debt slavery :)
Was talking to a guy from Kilkenny last week. He told me that each time Power Trip Hogan comes back to Kilkenny for a few days, that he has 2 minders with him in public!
At the homecoming of the Kilkenny hurling team, Hogan was booed and jeered by the majority of the crowd as he took to the platform!
The same guy told me that they are generally ashamed/embarassed of him in Kk
No need to generalise an entire county based on the muppet we elected to government, we all chose the big FG to rule over us with an iron fist. I hate the bigotry some Waterford people have against Kilkenny people, grow up please!
The property tax in Northern Ireland is used to provide a long list of services available to everyone. Their bins are collected without charge, plenty of libraries, public swimming pools etc.
I’m sure most people in the republic wouldn’t mind paying the household tax if they actually got something out of it, facilities reinstated in our local hospitals, better roads and bin collections just to name a few…
We are getting the reverse, they are privatising services and charging more for local government. I think, we should join N.I., instead of the reverse and we are stuck in reverse!
Kevin, kevin, kevin. Have you and the rest of the little young fine gael shills not realised yet that your spin has worn out. Up north the household charge covers bin collections, water, school books and meals etc. whereas down here it is being imposed to attempt to plug the gap left by your party robbing the public coffers to cover rich folks gambling losses.
Freya
The equivalent of the Property Tax in Northern Ireland is six to eight times what is proposed for the Republic. Let’s at least be honest when we make comparisons.
Freya / Stephen; The idea of the property tax is to help fund local councils. As it stands, Ireland has no such direct tax to fund local councils. Local Councils are struggling and are looking at the state for a handout, as that is how our taxation system works. With the introduction of a property tax, which will be considerably lower than the North, local councils will get more money. The local councils will then decide themselves by way of a vote each year what to spend it on. That will include roads, footpaths, tourism, hedge cutting, libraries, and other such public services. I’m sure those who still have a bin service will see the funds helping lowering those costs.
You can’t throw out this “Oh well Sinn Fein support it in the North because it provides so much more” when the price of the property tax in the Republic will be considerably lower while still doing just that – providing local services to local people. Just probably not on the scale that Sinn Fein require people to pay.
Now, in all fairness, I don’t even see Sinn Fein hitting back and saying that its flawed because it wont be able to fund local services. Instead, they say the people wont be able to afford it and people are struggling enough. Austerity isn’t working, according to Sinn Fein. Unless you are in the North, where Austerity appears to be the only option as they implement it on the people of the North including a much higher property tax – it appears the people in the North wont be spared from austerity, but in the Republic, they will spare us.
werejammin; Should I take someone seriously who signs up a Twitter account to join TheJournal discussions and never reveal his identity?! Not a member of Young Fine Gael. In life, people will have different views to you. When it comes to politics, if its different to you than don’t automatically assume its someone with a hidden agenda or part of a group which is in favour of such. People do have different views to each other in life, otherwise, it would be an awful boring place.
The large majority of the Irish people seem to have different views than you.
Ciaran Morgan; Fine Gael had stated that there would be changes to the money paid out for Child Benefit. Remember Labour ran adverts pointing this out?
@Michael COLLINS…
Everybody knows that the household charge will be increased more and more each year. The difference with the North and the republic is that their tax actually goes straight back into local services – while ours is used to bail out anonymous bondholders and pay the wages of county sheriff’s who are removing families from their homes.
Kevin, I would hope people would ‘take me seriously’ based on what I post, which in the case of the reply I made to your canned fine gael spin, was entirely accurate.
Are you NOT a member of young fine gael? Apologies if I got you mixed up with the lackeys that post around here. Can you clarify please?
Freya
I don’t want this to be a game of ping pong but you’re original Post was WRONG. Whatever happens to the tax rate over the next few years I would prefer to have honesty in arguments rather than the usual Sinn Fein spin.
Haha.. a Sinn Fein hacker?! According to you, anyone that disagrees with the household charge and bailing out bondholders is immediately associated with Sinn Fein. It’s quite obvious where your affiliations lie.. doesn’t take a genius or hacker to work that one out!
werejammin; I am not and while others from Young Fine Gael post here, there are plenty of others who support Fine Gael and the governments policies to some degree that are neither a member of YFG or the FG party. Hence, my point on different views to yours doesn’t automatically mean they are a member of the youth party because of their age (I think I might be over the age limit at this stage) or the senior party if they don’t look young.
I do have an interest in politics and I have done for about 5 years or so. I never agreed with the household tax, but I just thought the spin by Sinn Fein was hypocritical and deserved to be mentioned for the 1% of people on here who are not Sinn Fein supporters.
The government fairly played down his compramising pictures with his press secetary while the distraction of the budget was going on.
Very selective releases hogan.
Just as Hogan has been taken to court for his unjust household charge he is saying that 70% have paid. Is this an attempt to swing the courts decision. Well, You are going to have a big surprise because If the case is lost in the courts it will then be taken to the European Court of Human Rights, and you might not be around to see the results.
Met Hogan in the toilets in Langtons one day. He took a schwazz and then walked out… Didn’t even wash his hands. When I saw him afterwards he was shaking an old man’s hand.
Im reading a lot of stuff in papers & net regarding abuse of our elected TDs & the matter of people been driven to suicide, well it was the leader of the country & ff who told us that if we dont agree with him we should kill ourselfs, that man ? bertie ahern did the fg & labour muppets get on their high horses then? or did it only apply to us.
How can we not abuse. Them when thy come out wit crap like this. . We stop when thy treat us. Wit some respect . And stop talking down to us. .thy are not in there fu@@ class room. Now
Unjust Enrichment :
We do not accept paying Tax-Rent on our Homes to be used for:-
- paying off the debt of private companies i.e. Banks.
- pay increases (increments) to Government employees in a time of austerity.
…..75,000 signatures required to trigger the necessary action ….. else no more moanin please!
Several people arrested in Brussels following raids over alleged corruption within European Parliament
1 min ago
1
0
stolen companies
'Taking back what was stolen': How Trump is selling yesterday's Oval Office meeting to his followers
20 mins ago
1.4k
6
As it happened
The Taoiseach invited Trump and Vance to visit as Washington celebrated Ireland
Updated
13 hrs ago
140k
211
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 156 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 106 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 137 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 106 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 79 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 78 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 38 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 34 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 127 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 60 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 75 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 82 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 39 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 45 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 27 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 89 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 96 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 71 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 52 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 86 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 66 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say