Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, to the House. A debate like this is a useful opportunity. It allows the Government to look at its record and mark itself. It gives us a chance to correct the Government's papers. Senator Jim D'Arcy said that the Government honoured 60% of its election promises in its first year. Does that mean the other 40% will be reneged on, or will they be honoured? We had not set the untruths at that higher percentage. We will see how the next year goes.

Senator O'Neill's colleague from the Carlow-Kilkenny constituency, the Minister, Deputy Hogan, has been very active since this Government took office. With the exception of the Minister for Finance, he is probably the best-known Minister throughout the country. He is not well-known because he is handling things well; he is handling things very badly. The household charge has been a debacle. It is not going to work. The Government is expecting to get €100 from 1.6 million people. Less than a fifth of them have paid the charge to date. I am hearing on the ground that people are confused about how they can pay.

As a politician, I will pay the charge because that is the law of the land. As a Cavan man, I will wait until the day before the deadline before I do so. It is better for me to have €100 in my account than for it to be in the Minister's account. The administration of the charge has been handled very badly by the Minister and the Department. People who are anxious to pay the charge do not know how they can do so. The Minister has also reneged on the Fine Gael promise to provide grant aid to people who need to upgrade their septic tanks. Such a provision was not included in the legislation and has not been included in the guidelines.