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Hogan Hypocrisy Over Unpaid Service Charges

15/07/12

éirígí representative for Dublin’s South West Inner City [SWIC] Damien Farrell has called 26-County environment minister Phil Hogan a hypocrite, following the revelation that the minister was in receipt of “soft loans” from Michael ‘Fingers’ Fingleton, the disgraced former head of the Irish Nationwide Building Society, and for owing and refusing to pay 4,320 euro of service charges on a property owned by Mr Hogan.

Hogan received three loans from Irish Nationwide. The first for his Kilkenny family home to the sum of €330,000, which is the only loan of the three that can be described as standard. He later received an interest-free loan of €450,000 which he used to purchase a property on Haddington Square in the exclusive Dublin 4 area. This loan was personally arranged by Michael Fingleton, the then most senior figure in Irish Nationwide.

But the building society’s generosity didn’t end there. With Fingleton’s assistance and minimal paperwork, an overly generous equity release on the two properties of €1.2 million was arranged in order for this hardworking politician to purchase a holiday home penthouse in Portugal. It is on this property that Hogan has refused to pay a charge for services totalling €4,320. When asked why he had not paid the charge Minister Hogan replied, “Would you pay if you were not happy with the service?”

Commenting on the revelations Damien Farrell said, “It’s clear to see that this information together with the week’s other revelations regarding minister for health James O Reilly’s €1.9 million debt responsibility that there is no difference in either the ethos or morality between this government and the last. The sums of money mentioned here read like telephone numbers to the hard pressed people of Dublin’s South West Inner City. The political class are far removed from the hardship that is being endured in the homes and communities of the people in the Dublin 8 area and beyond. The reality is that 1.8 million people are left with approximately €100 per month after paying all their household bills.

“This fact was also released last week within the findings of the What’s Left report commissioned by the Irish League of Credit Unions [ILCU]. The report uncovered that 87 percent of Irish people surveyed were left with only 5 percent of their income each month having paid their essential bills, 40 percent had to borrow to make ends meet by the end of the month, 25 percent used their credit card for this purpose and 10 percent had to resort to moneylenders. The report also concluded that National Disposable Income is down as 67 percent of the people surveyed stated that they have less now than they had this time one year ago.”

Speaking about the findings of the ILCU report Damien said, “At this stage it should be coming clear to minister Hogan, his colleagues in government and their managers in Europe that austerity is not working and that, of the 750,000 homes refusing to pay their unfair Household Tax most if not all have not got the means. This makes the tax uncollectable regardless of the threats of penalties and court convictions he is firing at ordinary citizens. Hogan would be better off pursuing Michael Fingleton and the Irish Nationwide for the €5.4 billion they have cost the tax payer. This equates to 33 years of household tax revenue at today’s rates and eligibility estimates.”

Damien went on to add, “The What’s Left report also alarmingly exposed that 81 percent of people surveyed revealed that should there be any more changes to their financial circumstances, such as tax increases on their wages or cuts to their social welfare payments, they would not be able to cope with their finances any longer. This is a serious concern for all as we are in a process of austerity budgets where negative changes to taxation and social welfare payments are inevitable.”

With this in mind Damien called upon the people of Dublin’s South West Inner City not to wait until it is too late and to support the Campaign Against Water and Household Taxes’ march and rally this coming Wednesday 18th of July. Assembly is at Central Bank Plaza, Dame Street at 5pm from which we will march with other groups to Leinster House where the Dáil will be having its last sitting before the Summer break.