Mayo County Council has this evening apologised on its own behalf and on behalf of the Household Charge Bureau, to people who have today received a letter seeking payment of €127 for the household charge, penalties and interest, who have already paid the €100 charge.

Midwest News has today received calls from across Mayo from distressed listeners who had today received the letter but had already paid the charge.

Thousands of letters have apparently already been distributed throughout the country this week.

In a statement this evening Mayo County Council said:

‘To date approximately three out of every four householders in County Mayo have paid the household charge.  The money collected from these householders is helping Mayo County Council to continue to provide essential services to all of the people in County Mayo.  As part of its continuing campaign to collect all of the monies outstanding, Mayo County Council recently issued 28,641 letters to householders.

These letters were sent to householders included on a list supplied to the Council by the Household Charge Bureau.  The bureau created this list by matching records of those who had paid the charge with records provided to the bureau by the Property Registration Authority.  These letters advise householders of the necessity to pay the charge as soon as possible.  Householders who receive these letters are also advised to contact the bureau if they have already paid the charge.  This is necessary to allow for any errors in the bureau’s records to be corrected and will help to ensure that they receive no further reminders.  It has come to the Councils attention that a number of people who received these letters have already paid the charge.  Mayo County Council on its own behalf and on behalf of the bureau wish to take this opportunity of apologising to these householders for any inconvenience caused.

Mayo County Council advises any householder who has received one of these letters and has already paid the charge to contact the bureau at their earliest convenience so that the records can be corrected.  The Council also advises all of the remaining householders who have not yet paid the charge to do so immediately.  Failure to pay this charge will lead to a reduction in the monies available to Mayo County Council and this will lead to cuts in services.

Finally, Mayo County Council wishes to take this opportunity of thanking the three out of four householders who have already paid the charge.’

The statement confirms the fact that the onus is on the letter recipient to contact the bureau. The number to contact is 1890 357 357 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

However listeners are reporting delays of up to half an hour to get through to that number today.