Household charge has raised €4.5 million to date

The controversial new household charge has raised more than €4.5 million since its introduction at the start of the year.

New figures released by the Department of the Environment have revealed that 45,100 homeowners have paid the €100 charge since its introduction on January 1^st.

Homeowners have until March 31^st to register for the new charge, which will eventually be replaced by a property tax.

The government estimates that around 1.6 million households are liable for the charge nationwide.

A number of homeowners living in uncompleted or ghost estates are exempt from the charge.

However, everyone else has just over two months left to register for the charge at www.householdcharge.ie

Details on how to pay the charge are available here.