Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes. We see in this legislation a measure being hailed as reform by the Minister but it is a Trojan horse, providing another legal support to prevent the collapse of Irish Water.

The programme for Government of Fine Gael and Labour states that they will endeavour to enact legislation to "end the practice of imprisoning people who cannot pay fines and debts and introduce a system which takes a small amount of money from wages or social welfare by 'attachment order' to pay off a fine or debt over time, as an alternative to imprisonment for people who refuse to pay".

This is a laudable commitment and one my party can certainly support. As we are all aware, Article 1 of Protocol No. 4 to the European Convention on Human Rights provides, "No one shall be deprived of his liberty merely on the ground of inability to fulfil a contractual obligation". It has been outlined that this fundamental right is additionally protected by Article 11 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states, "No one shall be imprisoned merely on the ground of inability to fulfil a contractual obligation". Both statements are quite clear in their impact, and the logical conclusion chimes with the Law Reform Commission's report in this area. The recommendations most relevant to the provisions contained in the Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015 include that a mechanism for the attachment of earnings be introduced for the enforcement of all judgment debts against individuals receiving regular income subject to the debtor having sufficient means to maintain a reasonable standard of living, and procedures for the imprisonment of debtors for failure to repay a judgment debt should be abolished subject to the implementation of the Law Reform Commission's other recommendations on the efficiency of the enforcement system.

In 2009, the Free Legal Advice Centres reported in its document, To No one's Credit, that Ireland's compliance with these international obligations had come to the attention of the UN Human Rights Committee on more than one occasion as a result of the failure to legislate to prevent individuals' liberties being taken away due to the failure to pay fines. None the less, let us not be naive about the situation in which many judges find themselves. It is often the case that judges have little option other than imprisonment for certain individuals who have a long string of more serious offences along with non-payment of fines. In these situations the statistics can be misleading as it may appear their incarceration arose from non-payment when the story is much more complex.

It was shown in the Irish Prison Service's annual report for 2014 that the number of debtors committed to prison as a consequence of the non-payment of a debt during 2014 was 23, with 22 male and one female. This should be distinguished from the numbers committed for failure to pay a court-ordered fine, which increased by 10.6% on the 2013 figure, from 8,121 in 2013 to 8,979 in 2014. Of this, 2,334 were female while 6,645 were male.

The failure to pay a court fine is as a result of a previous offence being committed. The failure to pay a debt is not. This is an important distinction. Will the Minister to clarify how the legislation still permits the imprisonment of debtors who have the means to pay but who refuse or neglect to obey a court order in respect of debt? I understand the maximum committal period under the proposals is six weeks. In any case, I welcome the changes surrounding the reduction in the options of imprisonment in the Bill as, frankly, it makes sense.

As part of the legislation mentioned, the Government announced in May that households which refused to pay Irish Water bills would be pursued through the courts with attachment orders being placed on their earnings or social welfare benefits. This measure was announced in light of the increasing expectation that a large percentage of households will refuse to pay their Irish Water bills. We still do not have any statistics in this regard and Irish Water still refuses to state how many households remain liable for outstanding bills issued to them. It is important when discussing the Bill that the Minister should outline to the House how many people may be liable specifically for Irish Water bills under this legislation when it is commenced.

More than 1.7 million bills totalling €70 million have been sent to households since May. Irish Water will submit bills to the tune of €271 million over the next year. A significant number of people have been billed but we do not know what will be the compliance rate. The secrecy surrounding the Irish Water project has brought Government policy into significant disrepute. It has also seen a colossal waste of money occur in the establishment of Irish Water and in the installation of water meters. A total of €540 million is rotting in the ground thanks to the Government. This is one of the great legacies of Fine Gael and the Labour Party in office.

The Bill relates directly to gross mismanagement in the creation and implementation of the Irish Water system, which has been Fine Gael policy since 2009. It is unfortunate the Government has seen fit to defend its policy positions by referring to the Law Reform Commission's report when defending the more significant debt mechanism which is directly inspired by the Irish Water crisis. This is a cowardly approach from the Government and one which will not wash with the public.

I urge the Minister to consider the further enhancement of the Money Advice & Budgeting Service which has a strong track record of supporting families in financial distress. Any expansion of its role is welcome. Fianna Fáil has consistently called for the establishment of a system of State and creditor-funded insolvency practitioners. These would take on cases where the debtor's payment capacity is so impaired that existing personal insolvency practitioners are unwilling or unable to do so. This system could be extended to the debt proceedings being proposed in the Bill. This could make a dramatic impact on those most vulnerable in our society who face difficulty with their debts and I hope this will be considered.

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