Data Protection Commissioner Billy Hawkes has said he was not consulted by the Government before it introduced the household charge legislation.
Mr Hawkes said he was “somewhat surprised” not to have been consulted about legislation which entitled the State to access customer information from entities such as the ESB.
Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan yesterday pledged to change data protection legislation if required to secure the collection of the €100 household charge.
However, he added he expected to establish an agreement with the Data Protection Commission shortly to allow the use of information from utility bills, which would make change in the law unnecessary.
Latest figures show that only 15 per cent per cent - some 251,458 of the 1.6 million liable for the charge - have registered. Paul McSweeney, the chief executive of the Local Government Management Agency, said today he expects to see a major increase in the number of people paying the charge before the end of the month.
A department spokesman yesterday said the numbers registering to pay were increasing by about 10,000 a day. Just under 80 per cent had registered online while the remainder had paid by post or in person at city and county council offices.
Speaking on RTÉ radio this morning, Mr Hawkes said the commission had been left “playing catch-up” to ensure that a protocol was put in place so that only the minimum level of personal information would be accessed in order to collect the €100 charge.
“We would have preferred if those conditions were actually built into the law itself and of course if we had been consulted we would have made sure that were the case, but now we’re playing catch-up.”
Mr Hawkes said that there was no question of a need for legislative change in relation to the Data Protection Acts as the entitlement of the State to seek information from utilities companies had been built into the Household Charge Act.
“It is totally clear from a data protection point of view, the law says clearly the information must be handed over.”
The protocol currently being negotiated between the commission and the Department of the Environment was to establish the conditions under which information could be accessed and handled. Mr Hawkes said he hoped the protocol would by the end of the week be finalised and subsequently published.
Speaking on RTÉ radio yesterday, Mr Hogan said the March 31st deadline would not be extended and those who refused to pay could find themselves in court.
“Whoever doesn’t pay the charge will be liable for the charge in law and people have to think long and hard about whether they want to be in the courts,” he said.
Those who fail to do so by the deadline have been warned they could face a fine between €1,000 and €2,500. They will also accumulate late-payment penalties on top of the flat €100 charge, building interest fees of 1 per cent per month for six months after the deadline date, which will rise to 10 per cent per month between six months and a year after the date, and 30 per cent per month after the first year.
The State hopes to raise €160 million from the charge, which will go towards public services, including libraries and maintaining parks and footpaths.
Mr Hogan said yesterday he was not concerned that the majority of home owners had yet to pay the charge. The vast majority of people wanted to be compliant, he said. However, he warned there would be no leeway for those who failed to pay on time.
The majority of local authorities will be opening offices on the final payment date, which is a Saturday, to facilitate last minute payers.
Campaigners against the charge said Mr Hogan’s comments showed desperation.
The Campaign Against Household Water Taxes, which is organised by the United Left Alliance, said those who claimed householders were waiting till the last minute were “acutely out of touch with the mood of ordinary people”.
Speaking on RTE’s Morning Ireland today, Wexford TD Mick Wallace said the public had had enough austerity and would express their anger at the Government by not paying the charge.
On the same programme, Fianna Fáil’s Dara Calleary said the Government should extend the deadline. He said his party opposed the “unfair” way the charge was being levied.
