Minister tells Household Charge rebels: 'look into your hearts'

Health Minister Dr James Reilly said today that people who are refusing to register for the Household Charge should "look into their hearts" and pay.

Just one in five households have registered and paid the €100 euro charge ahead of next Sunday's deadline.

Minister Reilly says the issue has been debated and now people need to pay.

I think, you know, people should now look into their hearts and think to themselves: do they want this country to recover, do they want services locally for themselves and their children, do they want their parks in good order, do they want their footpaths safe.

I believe we have to do this. Nobody likes introducing new charges, and nobody likes a charge that's a flat charge, but we're the only country in Europe that doesn't have a property tax."