Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

The Minister of State has not dealt with the issue satisfactorily. To refer to section 6(8)(b), which relates to the debtor having no goods that could discharge the debt, does not address Ms Justice Laffoy's ruling on what, in effect, is a constitutional requirement if the provision for any order of imprisonment ultimately for failure to pay a debt is to be constitutionally valid. The Bill is fundamentally flawed in that regard.

Reference was made to the Money Advice and Budgetary Service, MABS. In the current, dismal economic situation one will have more actions taken for the recovery of debt. MABS statistics prove that. It is dealing with 19,000 customers. The number of calls to its helpline has increased by 53% in the first quarter of this year compared to the last quarter of 2008. MABS is struggling to respond to the demands for its service. Its ability to assist people in debt is handicapped by its inability to act as a negotiator with lenders. MABS should be properly resourced to deal with the increase in demand for its services, which should be expanded into debt settlement and mortgage renegotiation, which would lead to a more efficient system.

Those types of measures are called for, rather than the draconian measures that are provided for in the legislation. The approach we have suggested involving the attachment procedure would take less time and be less expensive for the taxpayer in terms of court time, prison time and Garda time. By resourcing a body such as MABS to deal properly with the problems encountered by people who are not always the best at managing their finances would assist in the whole process.

It is also evident that the stakeholders in the system recognise that the debt collection system is inefficient. The Irish Banking Federation has supported the calls from the Free Legal Advice Centres, FLAC, and MABS for an overhaul of the enforcement system and the development of alternatives to imprisonment for non-payment of civil debt. We support the recommendations contained in the study by FLAC. They would be facilitated by the acceptance of the amendment in terms of the attachment of income and earnings as we have suggested in this amendment.

I underline the fact that it is not a question of the economic circumstances or the inefficiency of the debt collection system. What is fundamentally at stake is that the Government's intention in the Bill is to provide for a procedure that takes account of the Laffoy judgment in the McCann case. The Bill fails to do that in a fundamental respect. Nothing the Minister of State has said, invoking the advices that have been given or otherwise, deals precisely with that fundamental flaw. It will be exposed, if not in these Houses, ultimately in the courts if the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform does not have regard to what is being said in this House on the matter.