Dear sir - Recent survey findings show that over 1.8 million people have only €25 per week left after paying their bills, prove that it is not feasible for the Government to believe that it can impose water and property taxes on a people that are already at the pin of their collar for day to day living expenses.

The Irish League of Credit Unions' 'What's Left?' survey showed that 602,000 people have absolutely nothing left to live on when they pay their bills, and that half of households struggle to pay their bills on time and that 40 per cent of households have had to borrow to pay their bills over the last 12 months.

In this context, how does the Government possibly believe that it can impose property and water taxes which will be in excess of €1,000 per year. According to the Commission on Taxation, the aim is to impose a charge of €563 on the average house per annum, a charge that Mr Ajai Chopra, head of the IMF mission to Ireland and the de facto Minister of Finance thinks is not enough. Mr Chopra favours a charge in excess of €1,200 per annum.

This Government would have us believe that the majority of households have signed up to this unjust tax, which is effectively a tax to live in your own home. The people who have registered for this unjust tax either out of fear or a misplaced sense of patriotism are in for a severe wake up call in December when the 'junior' Minister for Finance Michael Noonan is given the job of presenting his Reichstag inspired budget to the citizens of the Republic.

Yours,

Stephen McGowan,

Newhaggard Lane,

Trim.