Gilmore: Charge deadline will not be extended

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has ruled out an extension to the registration deadline for the household charge.

The Labour leader insisted the public has a choice of easy ways to pay the €100 levy, which is due on March 31.

“There are no plans to extend the deadline,” said Mr Gilmore.

“The deadline is March 31. The household charge has to be paid.”

The Tánaiste said householders have the option of paying online, through their local authorities or by post but no direct payment can be made to or processed by An Post.

“This charge has to be paid,” Mr Gilmore added.

“It’s set by the Government. It’s an interim charge pending the introduction of a property tax and it has to be paid.”

The Government hopes to raise €160m from the 1.6 million householders eligible for the tax, which will fund public services including libraries, footpaths and public parks.

The Irish Postmasters’ Union has criticised the Government for failing to make provisions for householders to pay the levy at their local Post Office.

General secretary Brian McGann has called on Environment Minister Phil Hogan to make arrangements for the 1,100 Post Offices across the country to accept payments.

“At this late stage the Minister’s plans for collecting the charge are in disarray and yet he is not allowing the public to pay through the most accessible means available to hundreds of thousands of people,” said Mr McGann.

“We have a ludicrous situation where people are arriving at Post Offices with cash in hand expecting to be able to pay the charge, only to find that we are prevented from facilitating them. It just doesn’t make sense.”

He accused the Government of going out of its way to make it difficult for individuals to pay the flat charge and insisted much of the population has no access to the internet and cannot avail of the online system.

Meanwhile, the Tánaiste also hit out at TDs and campaigners who are urging people not to make the payment, saying they are misleading the public.

According to latest figures, only 15% of the population have so far registered for the fee.

But the Government has insisted it is optimistic the majority will pay and are simply leaving do so to the last minute.