Burton forced to clarify house tax gaffe
On a day of confusion — labelled “farcical” by Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty — Ms Burton said she believed the option should have been made available from day one.
Calling the Mar 31 deadline for the payment of the charge “ambitious”, Ms Burton said the timeframe would not be extended.
The comments are the latest in a series of blunders over the imposition of the tax, and come after more protests around the country against the charge, including a 3,000-strong event in Dublin on Saturday.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio yesterday, Ms Burton had indicated that moves were under way to allow people to pay the €100 charge at their local post office.
However, an An Post spokesperson said only the forms for payment were available in post offices.
A Department of the Environment spokesperson said: “People cannot pay in the post offices,” adding there were no plans to introduce such a measure.
Mr Doherty said: “There is no doubt the whole situation has become farcical now.
“It just shows how ill thought-out this whole tax is.”
It is the latest in a series of mixed messages from the Government relating to the charge, including:
* Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore telling the Dáil that payment could be made at post offices;
* He later admitted “there have been difficulties in relation to the communication of the household charge to householders”;
* Transport Minister Leo Varadkar admitting last week that “maybe not a majority” of people would pay up by the deadline;
* Junior Environment Minister Fergus O’Dowd on The Late Late Show having to quell fears people would be jailed if they do not pay.
Mr Doherty said the lack of information was “secondary” in the face of widespread opposition from the public to the charge.
It has also emerged The Ray D’Arcy Show on Today FM has come under pressure from the Government over a listener’s suggestion that people make a €100 donation to Crumlin’s Children’s Hospital instead of paying the tax.
A producer on the show said “a fairly high-up government press secretary” had made contact with the programme to complain.
Meanwhile, Environment Minister Phil Hogan has called for local authority teams to carry out door-to-door visits from Apr 2, setting in train a process whereby people who do not pay the tax will receive a verbal and then a written warning before the commencement of legal action. Mick O’Reilly of the Dublin Council of Trade Unions said it was an “outrageous” suggestion.
