Only a quarter of homes register to pay house tax

Government plans to track down homeowners failing to pay the household charge have still not been submitted to the Data Commissioner.

Meanwhile, there was a warning that a failure to collect the funds could result in tax increases for workers, junior finance minister Brian Hayes told RTÉ last night.

Proposals to reign in likely defaulters appeared in disarray last night after elected council members called on local authority workers to refuse orders to go door-to-door and pressurise people to pay.

Environment Minister Phil Hogan, whose officials oversee the charge, is now facing an embarrassing scenario with only a quarter of homeowners signed up to the levy.

The office of the Data protection Commissioner confirmed to the Irish Examiner no proposals have so far been received from Mr Hogan’s officials to cross check personal details of homeowners with records from utility companies, the Department of Social Protection and Revenue.

Mr Hogan has insisted those not paying will be tracked through the sharing of databases from other agencies and companies with his own officials.

No plans have yet been put to Data Protection Commissioner Billy Hawkes’ office, it was confirmed.

Mr Hogan’s department last night was still insisting protocols for the sharing of data would be agreed with the commissioner’s office by the end of the week.

Councillors yesterday also criticised plans to knock on homeowner’s doors to collect the charge. It was confirmed local authority workers would be asked to visit non-payers homes.

But the elected representatives called on workers not to cooperate. Sinn Féin said the proposal was “a total abuse of resources to send council staff door-to-door to intimidate people into paying a charge”.

Ministers made desperate last-minute bids to get homeowners to pay the €100, penalties for which are due to kick in next week after the deadline passes.

Frances Fitzgerald, the minister for children, said the projected €160m — if everyone paid — was required to maintain local services. “I would encourage everyone to go out and pay this charge so that we can continue to provide the kind of local services that people understand are necessary — our libraries, our parks, our paths.”

By 4pm yesterday, over 1.2m homeowners had not paid. Department figures showed 363,478 properties as having paid up. Another 25,000 postal payments were being processed. A further 8,545 homes were registered for a waiver scheme. As a result, about one in four homes have been registered.