An odious tax that is also unfair

You report that the household charge speech delivered to the Fine Gael Árd Fheis by Phil Hogan contains the following: “I have sought to protect the most vulnerable in society and have exempted large numbers of groups that are in greatest need“.

This is quite simply a lie.

Households, in which there are a number of jobs, are exempt because they are council renters, while a house owner on job seekers’ allowance is forced to pay, as are pensioners on basic state pension.