A number of local authorities have said they are considering the possibility of withholding grant payments from students where householders have not paid the €100 household charge.

County Councils across the country are thought to be considering new cost-cutting plans, as household charge figures remain stubbornly low.

THE adoption of the McCarthy report recommendations on local authority housing will lead to increased “ghettoisation” and only provide homes for the permanently poor, according to the Labour Party.

SEVEN county councils have failed to carry out even one inspection of rented properties over the last five recorded years.