Sir, – While the Government’s household charge is indeed very unfair, the most disturbing aspect for me is the Government’s plan to use the databases of organisations like the ESB.
To do this, the Government is changing the data protection laws so that databases can be used for purposes other than that for which they were created. This is quite simply a case of the Government riding roughshod over our data protection laws and is just the thin edge of the wedge of further erosion of our rights as citizens.
For this reason, it is necessary to resist the household charge, it is not just inequitable but constitutes a threat to our rights as citizens. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Your Editorial on the opposition to the new property tax by certain left-wing politicians is timely and appropriate. Much of Ireland’s economic woes have been brought about by the lack of a sustainable property tax base and the introduction of one, in addition to being a requirement of the EU/IMF bailout, will ensure a sustainable and secure revenue stream into the future.
Those left-wing politicians who espouse a campaign of non-payment do their constituents no favours. They constantly demand improved services but fail to address the need for funding for these services. It is time they accepted reality and ceased their grandstanding for narrow personal political gain. If they are unwilling to work to save our Republic they should resign their well-paid seats and allow someone who will work for the common good take their places. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Your Editorial on property tax is sheer nonsense. “We are living beyond our means”, it begins. Yes we are. But the problem is not a lack of property tax: as anyone who has paid stamp duty knows, Irish home-owners have been royally fleeced in recent years.
The reason is that as the Local Government Efficiency Review Group has identified, at a very minimum €511 million is being wasted on excessive layers of local government and hierarchy, waste which that report – commissioned by government – recommended be ended.
You could have used your Editorial to urge government to eliminate waste in local government. And to curb eye-wateringly generous pay and pensions conditions enjoyed by the large number of the 32,000 local government employees whose role is administrative and unconnected with the provision of any real services to the public.
Instead you observe “Nobody likes to pay tax” before describing the “contempt for civic morality” of those opposed to the tax.
Can I suggest that the real “contempt for civic morality” is amongst those who expect hard- pressed homeowners to suffer more taxation to fund the egregious waste of public money. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – John Barnewell’s missing point in relation to legal tender seems to be quite a pervasive urban myth (December 17th).
It is true that all Irish debtors must accept euros to settle debts but that does not mean that they must specifically accept cash, debit cards, credit cards or bank transfers. They are entitled to accept payment by whichever means is appropriate to their business and as part of the buying process, they can impose a charge for certain methods of payment (see for example, administration charges for credit and debit cards).
For the record, I wouldn’t be surprised if statistics showed that poorer households were far more likely to be the ones who pay the household charge in cash, in which case the €10 levy is rather cruel and does nothing to challenge the impression that the Government believes the poor are an easy target when it comes to balancing the books. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – Mairin de Burca (December 17th) is correct in pointing out the appalling circumstances being currently endured by many of our citizens.
These circumstances are a direct result of a reckless private banking system and the State taking over the enormous debts of theses private banks. The austerity package imposed by the troika is the blunt instrument being used to shift the burden of these debts on to the shoulder of the ordinary citizens of Ireland. We will have paid €16.8 billion to the ECB in interest for the Anglo Irish Bank promissory notes when the debt matures in 20 years (Businesss, December 16th).
However, she is incorrect in stating that the “so-called socialists” are not paying the household tax just to keep a few euro in their pockets.
Those of us, socialist or otherwise, who are not paying the household charge recognise that the household charge and the other promised stealth taxes are an integral part of the austerity package but, it is the first time since its imposition that we can actually say No. There are some who can’t pay and won’t pay and there are some of us who could pay but won’t pay because of the above. – Is mise,
Sir, – Am I the only one who doesn’t have a problem with the notion of a household charge? Since the recent Budget, most comment on the new tax seems to have been negative.
I welcome the notion of paying for services according to use. It is only fair that all members of society contribute towards the cost of services, with exceptions only for those unable to pay and not for those who refuse to pay.
However, I do have a problem with paying a household charge that has nothing to do with service delivery but that has everything to do with propping up a bloated local authority sector that seems to exist in its current form only to protect jobs within its own ranks.
Do we really need more than 40 rating authorities, a similar number of county councils and dozens of powerless town councils whose effective role is to act as a buffer between citizens and decision-makers? Surely one fire authority would suffice for our small country; why continue with the current system of multiple overlaps and inefficiencies?
Why is my own county of Roscommon using €20 million of borrowed money to build a palace to cater for a level of staffing that belongs to an era that is long over? Why doesn’t the Government reform the sector and give us a dozen regional authorities, properly funded with decision-making powers and an ability to fund services from local charges?
The answer is that such reform and resultant cost savings would erode the political base of the TDs who sit in the Dáil, isolated from the problems of real people, and making decisions that affect our pockets while protecting their own interests. The current structure forms the base of a pyramid that is the foundation of the whole rotten borough, so we must pay this tax while getting no benefit from it, and real reform is as far away as ever. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Among the public there is confusion about what has come to be called a “property’ tax”. Last year’s Budget adumbrated Site Value Tax (SVT), to be introduced after a country-wide valuation has been completed. It is to be hoped that SVT is still the intention of the present Government.
The important point to make about SVT is that it applies only to the site, and does not take account of any improvements on the site – such as a house.
Most members of the public regard “property” as synonymous with “house”. This is evident when “house prices” are discussed, when few realise that when they buy a house they are actually acquiring a site with a house on it; the site may actually be worth more than the house.
It follows that the public needs to be fully informed so that it understands the usefulness, and fairness, of SVT; that its ultimate aim is to replace some of the complex tax system that we currently have; and that it will be important in preventing the cycle of boom and bust.
It is not surprising, therefore, that there has been such a reaction to the essentially unfair €100 house levy, which has been introduced without an explanation that it is a temporary measure to raise money, and will be followed by the fair SVT.
In recent days people who should know better have been talking about the tax depending on the size of houses and the incomes of the householders. I assume that they say this out of ignorance and that the Government has not gone back on the simple idea of SVT, in favour of a complicated tax that will take account of the number of bathrooms in a house, etc? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – A tax on all your houses! – Yours, etc,