This article is from page 18 of the 2012-03-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 18 JPG
A MEMBER of the Labour Party has branded the Government’s handling of household charge as an “absolute mess”.
Councillor Paul O’Shea also claimed it was “absurd” that the Fine Gael / Labour Government had not enlisted the help of An Post in allowing people to pay the charge.
He raised the matter in a motion submitted at yesterday’s meeting of Ennis Town Council. Cllr O’Shea urged the council to provide information to the public on the charge and provide clarity on who is exempt from it.
According to national statistics, just over eight per cent of household- ers had paid a portion of the charge as of the end of February.
Cllr O’Shea said not enough information had been provided to people. “I think its an absolute mess the way this has been handled,” he said.
He urged the council to write to the Minster for Environment Heritage and Local Government, Phil Hogan, to highlight their concerns.
The Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind), described the charge as “badly thought out”. Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) said people should be allowed to pay € 2 a week off the cost of the charge. Cllr Peter Considine (FF) said the implementation of the charge had been “diabolically badly handled”. However he added that the “harsh reality is that it is now the law of the land”.