Charges over nonpayment of household charge withdrawn

The fact that charges against a Westport man for the non-payment of household charges in 2012 were withdrawn at the local district court (sitting in Castlebar) on Friday last was raised by Independent Councillor Frank Durcan at this week's meeting of Mayo County Council.

Councillor Durcan demanded to know if reports on Facebook that the charges against Mr. Peter Keegan, the first in the country to be prosecuted in the matter of household charges, had been withdrawn were true.

If the reports were true, Mr. Durcan added, it was very unusual that no newspaper in the country printed anything about it. “If this is true and it happened and the media was muzzled then there’s something wrong with society in this country and democracy is dead,” he continued.

Responding, director of finance Peter Duggan said the case against Mr. Keegan had been withdrawn on advice from the authority’s legal advisers as the household charge was now a matter for the Revenue Commissioners to collect as part of the local property tax. It was a matter for the Revenue to collect any arrears on household charges outstanding from last year.

Councillor Durcan said Facebook was reporting that Mr. Keegan had stuck to his case that the household charge was unconstitutional. Mayo County Council had no choice but to withdraw the charges and Mr. Keegan’s legal position of not paying has now been reinforced by law.

Chief executive Peter Hynes said the pursuit of arrears for household charges is now a matter for the Revenue. He said the legal advice for the Revenue is that it does not set any precedent for them.

Mr. Hynes continued: “The matter of constitutionality is to go before the Supreme Court, who are the judges, not Facebook or anyone else. So, in due course it will be clarified, I’m sure. For the moment, no precedent has been set. No effort was made to stymie communication or reporting.”

Councillor Gerry Ginty also criticised the media in the matter. “If what is being said is found to be true I find it astounding that it would not be top of the news in any newsagency. Whether or not it is left to the Revenue to collect it is still a case that a lot of people would like to hear about. I worry about this country the way it is going. The media has a certain bias. It is completely anti-people in favour of the big and the powerful.

“I congratulate Mr. Keegan and thank him for what he has done. He deserves the praise of every ordinary person. He stands up to the bullies who are trying to extract money from the poor people of this country to pay for their lavish lifestyle and their pensions.”