Household charge - Incitement to break law of the land

The controversy over the household charge of €100 is rumbling on amidst the continuing posturing. There is no real sign of resolution.

For some people, in the current economic climate €100 is a lot of money, and if members of the Government do not realise this, they are just demonstrating that they are out of touch with reality, which is certainly not a prescription for good government. For a great many people, the charge amounts to a relatively small tax, but that is beside the point, because the whole idea seems so grossly unfair.

Nobody would argue that the charge is transparently fair. The rich person living in a castle is being asked to pay the same amount as the poor individual living in a one-room cottage, even though the amount of services that each uses may be essentially incomparable.

From the outset, critics of the charge, including some opposition members of the Oireachtas, have sought to exploit the inequity of the matter by urging people not to pay the charge. In the process, they have been encouraging people to believe that the Government will not go through with implementing the law because it is so unfair. This has the potential to undermine the whole basis of government.

The State, which is responsible for collecting the charge, is now warning that those who have not paid will receive a second warning letter. Paul McSweeney, the chief executive of the Local Government Management Agency, has expressed a reluctance to take action against people who are non-compliant. His organisations are anxious to provide services, not to take people to court and prosecute them. But, if necessary, they will do so.

“Certainly we would expect that, after three letters, some action is going to need to be taken,” Mr McSweeney warned.

After three letters! Well, it seems that people are being invited to assume the second letter is just puffing on top of huffing. There will be another letter in due course if the charge is not paid.

Campaigners against the charge contend that many people have not yet received even a first warning. They are offering to provide legal advice and support for anyone prosecuted for not paying the charge. This is naked incitement to violate the law.

If the law is not worth implementing, it should never have been introduced in the first place. The Government should have the intelligence to realise this.

As things stand, the whole thing is grossly unfair to the 61% of householders who have paid the charge. The controversy will undoubtedly have serious repercussions for government in the future, if the issue is not tackled expeditiously, one way or the other. But, of course, the Government has essentially gone on holidays, and we are left with another fine mess.