It may be unfair, but the price of not paying the household charge is high

THE Government must be tempted to celebrate any possible deal with the European Central Bank over the payment of those damn promissory notes for Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide, for over €30bn, by announcing the abandonment of the attempt to raise a mere €160m from the Irish people by way of the household charges.

It is most unlikely that it will do so for a number of reasons, however (even if it has climbed down partially already on the septic tank registration charge). One is that the damage is done and that any climbdown will be treated by opposition parties on the left as their triumph, emboldening them to go further the next time something controversial is proposed.

The second is that, despite the many claims and the impression that has been created, the money from the collection of the household charge is not going to pay bank debts. What the Government has failed abysmally to emphasise is that, even without bank repayments, the gap between what the State is spending annually and taking in tax revenue is not far short of €20bn.