A public meeting about the household charges which will be introduced in January as part of the Government’s austerity measures, is to take place next week.
The meeting will take place on Monday at 7pm in Westside Community Centre and is open to all and specifically at residents of Westside, Shantalla, and Newcastle.
The proposed household charge will be set initially at €100 per household, however the Government think tank, the ESRI, predicts this will rise to upwards of €800 by 2013-14. The meeting will hear how the household charge can be defeated and bring families and individuals together to plan a boycott campaign similar to what is happening all over the country.
“We did not create this crisis, yet ordinary people are being expected to bear the brunt,” said Westside resident John Walsh. “This is the first austerity measure that actually gives an opportunity to resist. We were unable to prevent the likes of the Universal Service Charge and cuts to wages and social welfare, however the method of collection of this unfair charge allows us to say to the Government ‘No more’”
For more information on the proposed household charge and the campaign to oppose see www.nohouseholdtax.org
