Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I am sure the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, will agree that the vast majority of Irish people are law-abiding citizens. The fact that, with less than three days to go, more than 1 million people have yet to pay the household charge is a measure of the shambles the Government has made of this whole affair. Since the Government forced the charge through in its present form last December the communications strategy and political handling of this tax has been a disaster. Even Ministers have publicly conceded that mistakes have been made. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, has apologised in private to his Fine Gael parliamentary party colleagues but has not done so in public to the people.

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