Sinn Féin member of the Oireachtas Housing Committee, Thomas Gould TD, has today said the mounting debts for people deferring payment of their local property to tax due to inability to pay is “extremely worrying”.

His comments come in light of information revealed by Revenue today at the Housing Committee showing that, on average, 43,000 people defer payment every year.

Teachta Gould said:

“Currently, those who defer are charged 4% interest on the tax.

“While this will be reduced to 3%, it is completely unacceptable that we have a debt mounting for those who are unable to afford the Local Property Tax.

“For many people, this debt will be a source of real anxiety. Every year they are unable to afford the tax, the debt grows and interest is added on.

“If the Local Property Tax was actually a wealth tax then this wouldn’t be happening.

“We wouldn’t be saddling huge and growing bills on ordinary people who can’t afford them. Instead, those who could pay would pay more and those who couldn’t wouldn’t.

“That is what a progressive wealth tax, like Sinn Féin support, would look like.

“Taxing people who can’t afford it is not a wealth tax. It is just yet another way that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens are crippling ordinary workers and families in this state.”