Ms Josephine Feehily:

My colleague has just given me a figure which I did not have. A total of 1.2 million properties paid €100 each on the household charge which amounts to €120 million. This does not take into account any interest added.

To answer the Deputy's question on penalties, I do not see us rushing to penalise anybody. We will initially engage with people. If somebody has not engaged with us at all and has not sent back a return, I would ask them whether they are familiar with the range of deferral options available. Deferral options do not necessarily mean deferral for ever. People can defer because of a temporary problem and pick it up next year. A specific provision was introduced in the amending Act this year for sudden, unexplained and unexpected financial loss where somebody had planned to pay the tax but something happened. It is a hardship deferral. It involves speaking to us and telling us about circumstances.