Letters to be sent out over non-payment of household charge

Homeowners who have not paid the €100 household charge are to receive letters in the coming weeks warning that they will face penalties if they don't pay up.

Environment Minister Phil Hogan today told the Dáil that 960,000 out of 1.6m homeowners have so far registered for the tax.

That represents a complience rate of 60%.

However Minister Hogan said local services will have to be cut- unless the rest of the homeowners pay what they owe.

"There will be letters going out in the next couple of weeks," Minister Hogan said.

"It's very important for local authorities to get in this money, otherwise they could face cuts in services towards the end of this year."