This article is from page 10 of the 2012-07-31 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
NOT all members of Clare County Council have paid the € 100 household charge – a charge the Government says is to support local services. Some of their colleagues believe they should not benefit from the council coffers until they pay up.
In the last week, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Phil Hogan, withheld almost a quarter of a million euro of funds owed to Clare County Council as just 62 per cent of the county’s householders have registered for the controversial charge.
One of the 28 per cent who have not yet paid in Clare is Shannon’s Cllr Gerry Flynn (Ind).
Cllr James Breen (Ind) is also firmly against the charge but would not say yesterday (Monday) if he had paid the charge.
“I believe this is a very penal tax. People are not able to pay for food and they are being asked to pay € 100. There are people living on € 15 a week when all the bills are paid, “ he said.
The former TD was adamant, however, that he had not encouraged people to avoid the tax. He said he told his supporters to make up their own minds on the issue.
“At this point and time, I am not saying whether I paid it or not. For now all I am saying is that it is a personal matter between me and my wife,” he added. “I will represent people who have paid and people who have not paid it equally and impartially as I have done for the last 25 years in politics,” he said.
Cllr Flynn, however, has made a conscious decision not to pay the charge. The Shannon councillor said he sat down with his family and supporters and made a conscious decision not to pay.
“I had information that the € 100 fee is for data collection for the minister that will then be sent on to revenue for home tax,” he said. “The € 100 was never meant to be a tax. This is my own free choice. It is not that I could not pay. I do not encourage or discourage anyone to pay,” he told