A LABOUR TD has called on Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan to consider granting an extension to the deadline for paying the €100 Household Charge introduced in Budget 2012.
Kevin Humphreys said today that the deadline for paying the charge via direct debit (which passed yesterday) should be extended to the end of the month.
He also called on the minister to enable An Post to process the charge, giving people greater flexibility in paying the charge.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie this evening, Humphreys said that his older constituents in particular have been voicing their concerns over the methods of payment, while others have said that they don’t have a bank account and would prefer to pay it through the post office.
“Older constituents that don’t use computers are finding it very difficult to make the payment. They want to pay but are finding it very inconvenient. So there’s a willingness to pay it, but there’s a difficulty in doing it.”
The TD said he had not received many complaints from people who were refusing to pay the charge. “What I have been hearing is that people are having a difficulty with the method of payment. We haven’t made it easy or customer friendly.”
Figures provided to TheJournal.ie earlier this week by the Department of the Environment showed that fewer than one in ten homes liable for the charge have registered to pay it. Yesterday marked the deadline for paying by direct debit; the overall deadline for paying the fee is 31 March, after which late payment fees will apply.
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