“nothing to lose but their chains”
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Threats to deduct household tax misleading & will be fought
20 Dec 2011 Press statement from Joe Higgins TD and Clare Daly TD, Socialist Party
/ United Left Alliance Threats to deduct household tax misleading & will be fought
Alarmist media headlines over the past week give the impression that
€2,500 could easily be deducted from the wages and welfare payments of
householders boycotting the registration and payment of the new
household tax. In fact such legislation does not even exist at this
time. Nor does any legislation allow for the tax itself to be
deducted. The headlines add to the scaremongering by the government which sees
the anger of ordinary people over a new burden on them and hopes to
intimidate and frighten them into submission. The critical issue here is that there should be a massive boycott of
the registration and payment of this new tax. The government has set a
deadline of March 31st for registration, but if as the Campaign
Against Household and Water Taxes urges, we arrive at the end of March
with a massive number of householders refusing to register, this will
demonstrate that this tax does not have any legitimacy and that a
powerful campaign can be built to defeat it. It is quite amazing that the government is willing to consider
forcibly deducting fines from the poor and from ordinary people but
has treated rich developers and bankers with kid gloves. People should not be detered by the government’s threats as a whole
range of steps would have to be gone through to deduct a fine. After legislation, a person would have to be identified as liable for
the tax, summonsed to court and brought before a judge for not
registering for the tax; a case proved that they should have
registered; and then a fine issued. Only if this fine is unpaid could
an attachment order be issued. If one million people refuse to cooperate with registration, these
threats would be made utterly unworkable. more http://www.socialistparty.net?household%20charge
more http://NoHouseholdTax.org
/ United Left Alliance Threats to deduct household tax misleading & will be fought
Alarmist media headlines over the past week give the impression that
€2,500 could easily be deducted from the wages and welfare payments of
householders boycotting the registration and payment of the new
household tax. In fact such legislation does not even exist at this
time. Nor does any legislation allow for the tax itself to be
deducted. The headlines add to the scaremongering by the government which sees
the anger of ordinary people over a new burden on them and hopes to
intimidate and frighten them into submission. The critical issue here is that there should be a massive boycott of
the registration and payment of this new tax. The government has set a
deadline of March 31st for registration, but if as the Campaign
Against Household and Water Taxes urges, we arrive at the end of March
with a massive number of householders refusing to register, this will
demonstrate that this tax does not have any legitimacy and that a
powerful campaign can be built to defeat it. It is quite amazing that the government is willing to consider
forcibly deducting fines from the poor and from ordinary people but
has treated rich developers and bankers with kid gloves. People should not be detered by the government’s threats as a whole
range of steps would have to be gone through to deduct a fine. After legislation, a person would have to be identified as liable for
the tax, summonsed to court and brought before a judge for not
registering for the tax; a case proved that they should have
registered; and then a fine issued. Only if this fine is unpaid could
an attachment order be issued. If one million people refuse to cooperate with registration, these
threats would be made utterly unworkable. more http://www.socialistparty.net?household%20charge
more http://NoHouseholdTax.org
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thin end of the wedge #householdtax
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Household Charge
Department of Environment release
Bill to provide for €100 Household Charge to fund vital local services in our communities is published
05/12/11
The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Mr. Phil Hogan, T.D. today (5 December, 2011) announced the publication of the Bill to provide for the introduction of the household charge of €100 to fund vital local services in line with the requirement in the EU/IMF Programme of Financial Support for Ireland. The Government had announced, in July, 2011, its intention to introduce the household charge in 2012.
The Minister stressed the Government’s firm commitment to introduce a valuation based property tax to replace the household charge. The Minister indicated that work is to commence early in the new year on the development of the property tax.
“A full property tax, requiring a property valuation system, will take time to implement, so the Government is introducing the interim household charge to apply to the majority of owners of residential property in the State. I will establish an inter-Departmental expert group to advise me, by mid 2012, on the design, scope and implementation of the property tax,” the Minister stated.
The Bill will provide for the raising of some €160 million from the household charge which will be used to support the continued delivery by local authorities of vital services for our communities. “It is essential, if we want to continue to have the level of local services we expect, such as fire and emergency services, well maintained streets, public parks, waste services, libraries, open spaces and leisure facilities, that we provide the necessary financial resources to pay for them. I understand that the introduction of the household charge, even though modest at less than the equivalent of €2 a week, represents an additional cost for homeowners so I have provided in the Bill that it may be paid in a number of instalments. I have also introduced provisions in the Bill to protect vulnerable groups in society by providing a waiver for those on mortgage interest supplement and those residing in certain unfinished housing estates.” The Minister indicated that further details on the unfinished estates that will qualify for the waiver will be announced as soon as possible.
In conclusion, the Minister stated “This measure is a further demonstration of this Government’s commitment to restoring balance in the public finances. It will provide a new stream of funding for local government enabling the sector to continue to respond to local needs and contribute to a more efficient, accountable and effective local government system. This is local democracy in action.”
Ends.
The EU/IMF Programme of Finacial Support for Ireland commits the Government to the introduction of a property tax for 2012.
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.
The household charge will be €100 in 2012 (equivalent to less than €2 a week).
This charge is another step in reforming the way local authorities are funded; it follows the introduction of the charge on non-principal private residences (NPPR) in 2009.
It will contribute to the funding of local services such as fire and emergency services, libraries, street cleaning, lighting, planting etc.
It is expected to raise some €160 million - based on the number of properties expected to be liable to the charge. The amount raised will be dependent on actual collection rates and the costs incurred in collecting the charge.
Owners not occupiers will be liable.
Monies raised will be paid into the Local Government Fund and will be allocated back to local authorities by the Minister in General Purpose Grants.
The liability date will be 1 January in 2012 and subsequent years and households not availing of instalment arrangements will have three months to pay. Late payment penalties and late payment interest of 1% per month or part thereof will apply thereafter.
Late payment fees, calculated as follows, will apply in the case of a household charge paid
not later than 6 months after the due date, 10 per cent of the amount outstanding,
later than 6 months and not later than 12 months after the due date, 20 per cent of the amount outstanding, or
later than 12 months after the due date, 30 per cent of the amount outstanding.
Collection Arrangements:
Collection by LGMA (Local Government Management Agency) by post or website (once off or instalment by direct debit four times a year).
Main overriding principles
Self declaration basis
Administration costs to be kept to a minimum
Late payment penalties
Exemptions:
Residential Properties that are part of the trading stock of a business (not sold or not having generated an income)
Social housing, including voluntary and cooperative housing units
Residential properties owned by Government/Health Service Executive
Residential properties owned by a charity
Residential properties to which commercial rates apply
Where a person is forced to leave their dwelling due to long-term mental or physical infirmity (elderly person that has moved into a nursing home)
Waivers:
Those in receipt of mortgage interest supplement on the liability date.
Those in certain unfinished housing estates to be prescribed in 2012 and 2013 by the Minister.
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Maastricht treaty will include sanctions for excessive budgets
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Maastricht [leaflets]
Maastricht leaflets (3 pages of a governmnet booklet)
a 4 page pro life leaflet
a 2 page leaflet from 3 pro life groups
an irish / english vote no leaflet from The Green Party
2 sided A5 from The National Platform
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please sir can we have some more #fish
please europe can we have some more of our fish 
The Marine minister has come back from Europe with a deal on how much and of what type fish the Irish fleet can catch.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/1217/breaking6.html
Ireland an island nation with huge fishing sectors around us share the fishing rights with other countries on the european union.
Cod stocks are dangerously low see ear to the ground (RTE 13/12/2011) 16:14mins
So the industry / science / politics has the cod stock where it is. We the people don’t eat enough fresh here in Ireland to be the cause of the decline. So these stake holders ignore calls to ban cod catching, decrease the cod catch by 25% and I have yet to read have there changed policy on dumping the cod they catch that they can’t land.
We are being over fished. Dec 3rd I wondered if there was much fish left at sea. To find this out you need a survey.
@briangreene Tweeted Dec 3rd. Plenty more fish in the sea! are there? http://j.mp/rsLoay Marine Institute - The Stock Book 2011
@ellamcsweeney Tweeted Dec 17th By all accounts Coveney has negotiated a good deal for Irish fishermen. If fish could vote, however, I’m not sure they’d tick his box…
@JimHigginsMEP & Pat the cope Gallagher welcome the deal.
further reading: Conor McCabe in “Forgotten Faces of Capitalism in Ireland, Agriculture and Fishing” deals with Irish fishing and its relationship to the Irish economy.
http://url.ie/dq3d
“Class relations in fishing are somewhat different from those in manufacturing industry or agriculture in Ireland. The ease with which international capital has penetrated the fishing industry is a feature of the lack of a big, native bourgeois class controlling fishing in this country. In agriculture, as we see, there is a definite presence of a big bourgeois or rancher class, fractions of which have certain contradictions with international capitalism.”
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let the children play
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Europe: for the millions rather than the millionaires
· Referendum must be held on summit agreement
· ‘Austerity union’ would be disastrous for people across Europe
· Socialist Party will be to fore in campaigning for a
referendum and for a no vote Socialist Party TDs Joe Higgins and Clare Daly, together with
Socialist Party MEP , Paul Murphy, have called for a referendum to be
held on the outcome of the European summit, which will entail a
significant transfer of power in budgetary matters from the Dail to
the European Commission, Council and Court of Justice. The Socialist
Party will be campaigning vigorously for a referendum and for a no
vote if a referendum is held. Paul Murphy MEP declared: “Any attempt by this government to avoid going to the people on this
agreement must be vigorously resisted. The outcome of the summit
represents a serious attack on democratic rights and an attempt to
institutionalise austerity. People have a right to have a say on such
a significant transfer of power from national parliaments to the EU
and enshrining of austerity, which will have such a major impact on
their lives. It certainly seems that any attempt to avoid a referendum
would be a breach of the Crotty judgement, as this agreement without a
doubt involves a significant transfer of powers to the EU. “The ‘fiscal stability union’ being proposed is an austerity union,
with neo-liberalism locked into countries’ constitutions and
supervised by the European Commission and Council. The results of this
would be disastrous for the whole of Europe, just as the EU/IMF plans
being implemented in Ireland, Greece and Portugal have further wrecked
the economies of all three countries and thrown millions into misery. “I and the Socialist Party will be to the fore in campaigning for a
referendum and calling for a no vote in such a referendum. In opposing
this austerity union, we will be putting forward an alternative of a
genuinely democratic and socialist Europe, which is run for the
millions rather than the millionaires and where resources would be
used to get people back to work rather than paying for the gambling
debts of speculators.” ENDS
· ‘Austerity union’ would be disastrous for people across Europe
· Socialist Party will be to fore in campaigning for a
referendum and for a no vote Socialist Party TDs Joe Higgins and Clare Daly, together with
Socialist Party MEP , Paul Murphy, have called for a referendum to be
held on the outcome of the European summit, which will entail a
significant transfer of power in budgetary matters from the Dail to
the European Commission, Council and Court of Justice. The Socialist
Party will be campaigning vigorously for a referendum and for a no
vote if a referendum is held. Paul Murphy MEP declared: “Any attempt by this government to avoid going to the people on this
agreement must be vigorously resisted. The outcome of the summit
represents a serious attack on democratic rights and an attempt to
institutionalise austerity. People have a right to have a say on such
a significant transfer of power from national parliaments to the EU
and enshrining of austerity, which will have such a major impact on
their lives. It certainly seems that any attempt to avoid a referendum
would be a breach of the Crotty judgement, as this agreement without a
doubt involves a significant transfer of powers to the EU. “The ‘fiscal stability union’ being proposed is an austerity union,
with neo-liberalism locked into countries’ constitutions and
supervised by the European Commission and Council. The results of this
would be disastrous for the whole of Europe, just as the EU/IMF plans
being implemented in Ireland, Greece and Portugal have further wrecked
the economies of all three countries and thrown millions into misery. “I and the Socialist Party will be to the fore in campaigning for a
referendum and calling for a no vote in such a referendum. In opposing
this austerity union, we will be putting forward an alternative of a
genuinely democratic and socialist Europe, which is run for the
millions rather than the millionaires and where resources would be
used to get people back to work rather than paying for the gambling
debts of speculators.” ENDS
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