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Bin charges bringing debt to poor - agency

  • 20-11-2003 10:03pm
    #1
    Victor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 78,580 ✭✭✭✭


    Screw the double taxation argument - I say more double taxation if it brings people out of poverty.

    http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/breaking/1995364?view=Eircomnet
    Bin charges bringing debt to poor - agency
    From:ireland.com
    Thursday, 20th November, 2003

    Bin charges are leading to increased levels of indebtedness among the poor, the Combat Poverty Agency warned today.

    Issuing a report examining waste-collection fees in five local authority areas, the agency said a co-ordinated system of waivers for bin charges should be introduced.

    Ms Helen Johnston, director of Combat Poverty, said the local authorities are applying widely differing policies to the charges. Among the differing elements of policy are cost, payment method and eligibility for waivers.

    New guidelines should be introduced at Government department level to co-ordinate local authorities' approach to the charges. This should include an appeals system, Ms Johnston said. Lump sum payment systems, in particular, create difficulties for low-income households, she added.

    "Some local authorities already provide for payment mechanisms which are more appropriate to the budgeting patterns of low-income households and these should be more widely available. A pay-as-you-go system is easier to manage but sometimes it increases the overall cost," Ms Johnston continued.

    The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) - which is funded by the Department of Social & Family Affairs - has identified bin charges as a cause of further indebtedness in some areas.

    A MABS survey in one local authority area showed bin charges equated to 5 per cent of social welfare payments. The equivalent charge in percentage terms to a household with an income of €40,000 would be €2,000.

    In some areas - usually were private contractors operate collections - a waiver system is not in place. "Another problem is that tax relief only applies to taxpayers so low-income households outside the tax net are disadvantaged," Ms Johnston said.

    The Combat Poverty report surveyed waiver mechanisms in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Kildare, Galway County, Donegal and Dublin City. The report has been submitted to the Department of Social and Family Affairs and to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, who are considering its recommendations.


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