Jimmy Harte (Labour)

My question is as follows. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government has indicated that the household charge can be paid through post offices. I ask him to extend that to include payment of the non-principal private residence, NPPR, tax. Many people, especially from across the Border, come to Donegal and wonder where they can pay this. Some of them do not do it online and council offices might be closed at weekends. They come on a Friday and may go home on a Sunday or Monday. Donegal is a county with many holiday homes and such a facility would be very handy for them. Unlike the locals, they want to pay it.

Some local people in Donegal do not want to pay for local services and want those local services to be provided by someone else. As someone who served on Donegal County Council for 12 years and Letterkenny Town Council for 17 years, I know the value of funding local government. These people are refusing to pay because they do not want to pay and not because they cannot afford to pay. There are people who cannot afford to pay, but they are being looked after. Sinn Féin should be consistent. It advocates non-payment, but is quite happy for people to pay it in Derry, Strabane, Fermanagh and Antrim. Why is Sinn Féin happy to pay it there?