Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is one of the areas that is still being dealt with in the development of the Bill. It is an issue of some difficulty and I cannot give the Deputy a definitive answer as I do not want to mislead him. With attachment of earnings, if people are employees, it works, but if someone is self-employed, the attachment mechanism is of no use because it is that individual who should be making the payments in the first place. When one is dealing with social welfare payments, one of the issues one is addressing is how well this arrangement will work in practice. If we take it that most social welfare payments are to provide for a minimum level of money for an individual or a family, when dealing with an attachment of earnings order - as some Deputies will know, this system has been in place since 1976 in family law terms - the portion of someone's earnings that can be attached is that portion that is not regarded as essential in meeting his or her basic needs; therefore, one can never attach the total amount. Many social welfare payments are about meeting basic needs and there is not a huge differential between what people need and what can be attached. However, I do consider it important, where people on social welfare are fined, that this issue be considered and addressed in the drafting of the Bill.

One of the issues of which I was very conscious was that the previous legislation enacted by my predecessor, first, did not provide for attachment of earnings and, second, meant that if a fine could not be collected, the only penalty was imprisonment. Introducing community service as an alternative saves taxpayer's money and means prison places are not occupied by individuals for what inevitably are very short periods. It also saves the huge expense and resources involved in members of the Garda having to pick up people to bring them to the Prison Service and in having prison officers check them in for what are often very short stays in prison. Instead, an individual will be supervised by the Probation Service while undertaking community service to the benefit of local communities, which I consider much more preferable to jail for non-payment of fines. Clearly, jail has to be the ultimate sanction for individuals who do not co-operate in undertaking community service.