Dr. Keith Walsh:

I will try to answer that. We are very much aware that this is a challenging process from the point of view of local authorities, and we have engaged with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Housing to try to find a better option or to streamline the processes. The timelines are very tight on our side, given the number of things we need to do between September or October and the end of the year such as getting returns to people, after which they will need to revert to us and notify whether they are changing their payment method. For whatever their payment method is, we need to set that up and to send instructions to banks regarding direct debits or to employers regarding reductions from salaries. That all has to be done and in place before January, given that the collection of the tax begins then. We have considered this and it is difficult to see where we can make additional allowances or space.

It is an issue that we consider regularly, although it is complicated even further in a revaluation year, when there is an additional process and the valuation of properties has to be complete by 1 November, so the valuation has to be done in advance of that. That is why, as we discussed earlier, the notification date for local authorities in a revaluation year is brought forward to August. We appreciate that that causes problems and is difficult, but it is not something we are doing for no reason. It is because we have a series of processes we need to run through and get into place before the end of the year to ensure that collection will happen from 1 January.