€100 charge dodgers ‘targets’

Non-payers of the household tax have been told by ministers they will now be “targeted” for the cash.

Joe Costello, the trade minister, gave the warning as he denied the Government had been humiliated by the scale of the boycott.

Despite the confusion surrounding exactly how many people were eligible to pay the charge before the end of March deadline, Mr Costello said people who already paid the second-homes tax, and landlords, would be the first to be investigated for non-payment.