Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 6, to delete lines 34 and 35 and substitute the following:“ “statement of means” means a statement of means furnished by a judgment debtor under section 7 or, in relation to a relevant order that has been varied under section 20, the statement of means furnished by the judgment debtor under subsection (2) or (4) of that section in the application for the variation;”.

A statement of means is defined in section 1 as a statement of means furnished under section 7. However, where a relevant agreement has been varied, the relevant statement of means would be that furnished under section 20. Members will recall that the statement of means is to be completed by the debtor in order that the court has comprehensive details of their income and outgoings in order that an assessment can be made of the debtor's capacity to repay the debt. A second, or further statement of means would be required to be provided by the debtor where there is a proposal to vary the attachment or deduction order under the provisions of section 20.

Amendment No. 1 corrects the references by providing for an amended definition of statement of means in section 1, which now references the variation provisions in section 20. Amendments Nos. 11 and 18 are consequential amendments. I should mention at this stage that it is intended to introduce a number of amendments on Report Stage. These are likely to include further refinement of the definitions sections, a possible further amendment to section 2, regarding the making of regulations, some further refinements to section 7 concerning the statement of means and a new provision concerning protection against unfair dismissals for employees with less than 12 months' service, amendments to section 15 concerning persons in the employment of the State, amendments concerning the service of documents, amendments relating to the enforcement of court orders Acts, some further refinements to the sections dealing with the deductions from social welfare payments and the variation of orders made under the Bill, and a possible amendment to the enforcement section.