Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 13:

In page 6, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following:

3.—The Minister shall, within 2 months of the enactment of this Act, report to the Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection on the progress made on providing a system of attachment to social welfare payments for fines and civil debt.".

This amendment is perhaps more relevant to the Fines Bill 2009 but it also relates to social welfare provision. We hear many complaints from gardaí and others involved in the judicial system, as well as from those who have had to go through the system, about the process in respect of civil fines and non-payment of debt, with so many people ending up in prison. I take on board the point made by the Minister last week about social welfare payments being seen as a minimum standard below which a person cannot survive. However, there should be no sector of society that is virtually immune from the law in the sense that individuals will do one night in prison after which the fine still stands but the person to whom it is owed never receives it.

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