Sir, – I regretfully paid my household charge in early March by telephone, having failed on several occasions to do so online. Since then, I have received two e-mail confirmations of payment, a brochure telling me how to pay, a colourful leaflet warning me to pay and four receipts telling me I have paid.
Is this wise spending of my hard-earned money, have I been singled out for special attention or is it just another attempt at a record? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Once the Local Government Management Agency has completed the registry of non-registering households, using a number of databases including those of the ESB and Revenue and with the possible help of Data Commissioner Billy Hawkes, it should consider calling it “The Fine Gael registry of households not to bother canvassing in the next election”. Did I forget Labour? That’s happening a lot lately. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – You report, “Late payers of the household charge will be pursued if they do not pay the €11 penalty due this month, chief executive of the Local Government Management Agency Paul McSweeney has said” (Home News, April 2nd).
Any chance the same enthusiasm could be used to pursue the bankers, developers and politicians that have got us into the mess we are in now? – Yours, etc,
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A chara, – Further to Seán O Kiersey’s letter (March 30th) concerning the absence of invoices to those paying the household charge, I too found this an extraordinary practice.
Without insight into the reasons behind this decision, I might nevertheless be of some assistance to the Government. As a company specialising in the issuing of paperless invoices on behalf of many hundreds of customers in Ireland for almost 20 years, I can offer the services of our company to the Government on a cost neutral basis. By utilising our existing infrastructure, we can create and issue these paperless invoices securely by e-mail to all those households who have registered online. For those households that do not have an e-mail address, we can arrange though our physical print and post partner to deliver the balance of invoices.
This can be done quickly and effienciently and will be consistent with industry best practice of issuing sales invoices/receipts for all monies owed/received. Should the Government wish to take up this offer, I can be contacted at the address below. – Is mise,
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Sir, – I wanted to pay the household charge from the beginning but did not know how. Then I saw a newspaper advertisement saying to pay to the local council, so I sent my €100 cheque to Cork City Council and received it back in the post, asking me to fill a page of questions and send it with my cheque to a Dublin PO address.
I did so and my €100 cheque came back again with another form saying I had given them a wrong number and they wanted a seven-digit number, as they wished to identify the house. They had my name and address and I looked up my income tax letter and gave them what I presumed they wanted, but how that could identify my house better than the address I did not know.
However, I was hanged if I would use another expensive postage stamp, so I put the form into their own envelope wrote “return to sender” on the envelope, which I resealed.
Now (March 28th), I have received a form, without my cheque, saying to send the money to the local council; and I am left wondering if my cheque was thrown into a waste paper basket and will a judge believe me if I say I paid three times? – Yours, etc,
Sir,– Despite disagreeing with how the household tax was being implemented, I paid it in a timely manner. However, the proposal to cut public services more in areas where payment is low is monstrous.
Even the most cursory glance at the income distribution data from the last census shows there are areas where the impact of the €100 tax would be more significant to household budgets, which would be a valid explanation, if not a justification, for lower payment rates. This proposal seeks to reduce public services to the very people who need them most. Is it not bad enough that a retired person on a fixed pension income pays the same as a wealthy person with a large income; but now if this person on a fixed income lives in a deprived local authority area they will, under this proposal, receive fewer public services, despite needing them more! – Yours, etc,