Household charge agency staff received death threats

The head of the agency collecting the household charge revealed how he and staff have been threatened, how he received hate mail and how a shotgun cartridge was sent to a senior staff member as a death threat.

Paul McSweeney, CEO of the Local Government Management Agency, also said his organisation was expecting to hand over collection of the levy or tax to Revenue by the middle of next year.

Revenue have been advised to set up varied payment methods for property owners when they take over collecting the tax, including allowing for stage payments directly out of pay packets and possibly through mobile phones.