Viewpoint: Martin Heydon responds

I agree that the handling of the Household Charge could have been better, writes Kildare South FG TD Martin Heydon, in response to your editor's Viewpoint article over the weekend.

While there is a small amount of people who protested in the constituency over the charge, my office has been much busier with people calling in who want to pay but have had difficulty in doing so. Older people who do not use the Internet in particular have struggled with making payments.

I have made representations to the Department of the Environment stressing the need for the Post Office to be involved in the process.

We also have failed to properly explain to people the need for us to move away from our local authorities being funded directly from central government grants. I recently was approached by a constituent who complained about the household charge and stating that he didn't want to pay it. The conversation then moved on to the need for speed ramps outside the primary school of which he is a member of the parents council. He wanted to know when Kildare County Council would do this work? He didn't link between the two issues until I asked him how he expected the Council to pay for that work?

Obviously the charge is something that the previous Government had committed to under the Troika deal so it has to be implemented. It is an interm charge until a more fair property tax system is introduced next year.


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