Richard Boyd Barrett TD this afternoon welcomes the statement from the National Executive Council of SIPTU, Ireland’s largest union, calling on the Government to drop the household charge.
The charge which begins at €100 a year will not remain a fixed charge. The aim – according to the Commission on Taxation – is to impose a charge of €563 on the average house. After 2014, the water tax will be added to this – giving a combined charge of around €1,000 a year. The is a flat tax being imposed on people already struggling to pay rent, pay mortgages and scrape money together for basics like utlilities and in many cases food.
The government propaganda would have us believe that the money will pay for services and public sector wages. The truth is that the Government is going to pay out 3.1 billion euros in March with the Anglo Promissory note and any money collected from this charge will not go into services. The opposite is true as the Government has slashed essential community, health and disability services.
The mood in the country is one of mass movement of opposition with hundreds of people attending meetings and protests around the country and only 6% of households have registered to pay. Richard Boyd Barrett TD said, “By not registering to pay people are sending a very strong message to the FG-Labour government that enough is enough. In meetings around the country from Killarney to Killliney the anger is growing against austerity policies”. “SIPTU’s call on the government today to drop this charge is further evidence of the growing discontent”
