merrion street

The High Court has granted permission for a challenge to the implementation of the Household Charge as the legislation has not yet been published in Irish. The matter is due before court in two weeks. This is an application for leave to apply for judicial review – which is the first step in legal proceedings.

The Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011 has been translated into Irish and is scheduled to be printed and published towards the end of next week.

The Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011 is valid – people are legally obliged to register and pay the household charge by 31st March, the deadline date will not be extended.

The Official Languages Act requires, that Acts of the Oireachtas are translated as soon as possible and, in this regard, as an interim measure, an Act can be published electronically in the enacted language in advance of being published and this is what has happened in this case. The translation of legislation into Irish is the responsibility of the Houses of Oireachtas, specifically Rannóg An Aistriúcháin.

Previous experience would indicate that many people will pay at the last minute, and we are confident that the Irish people being law-abiding citizens will register and pay the charge.

 Ends.

Notes to the editor:

The introduction of the Household Charge is an interim measure and proposals for a full property tax will be considered by the Government in due course;

Household charge is a requirement of the EU/IMF Programme of Financial Support. A more comprehensive and equitable valuation-based property charge will be introduced as soon as possible to replace the interim household charge;

The charge goes to pay for local services;

The knock-on-effect of non-payment will mean that people will have to pay fines and local services will be cut;

The website has been engineered to cope with the high volumes expected.