Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise the issue. Like my colleague who has clearly outlined the issue, I too share the concerns of the Deputy in respect of the very real resource issues that are being used up in this matter and the real difficulties in which some local authorities find themselves as a result of spending money they do not have. I am concerned at the figures provided to me as of Friday afternoon indicating that just under 1.1 million people have paid the household charge or have registered for the exemption but potentially tens of thousands of individuals will be issued with letters or have been issued with letters who have already paid. If I use the example of www.checktheregister.ie and the various local authority websites where one can go on-line and type in one's name and address and find oneself relatively simply, surely after 11 months of the charge being in place the Local Government Management Agency and the local authorities could collate the information a little better. It is disappointing, as my colleague mentioned, that after 11 months we are still dealing with ghost addresses, replicated addresses and such abnormalities within a system that has been generated since January, and letters issued to households who paid within the specified time. One gentleman stopped me on the street and then telephoned me to say that he paid on 3 January and showed me the printout of the receipt which showed the time of payment. That is disappointing. I urge the Minister, the Local Government Management Agency, the various local government agencies and the Department to come up with a more practical solution for the several hundred thousand individuals who owe the State the legitimate sum of €127 arising out of legislation passed in the House in a democratic fashion.

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