Dáil debates

Friday, 3 July 2015

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage

 

10:40 am

Photo of Sandra McLellanSandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate. Copies of the Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015 were issued to Members in draft form last Friday afternoon and we were informed last Monday that it was to be debated this week. That is an inadequate amount of time in which to analyse the proposals fairly. The Minister, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, has indicated that the new options provided for in the Bill will be primarily of use to small businesses, tradespeople and the self-employed in seeking to recover debts from those who can afford to pay but will not do so. There is no reference from the other side of the House to the implications of these provisions for utility companies such as Irish Water. In truth, this legislation is an underhand attempt to give Irish Water power to bully debtors. The Government may claim its provisions are open to all creditors to use, but, in fact, these proposals are part of a wider Fine Gael-Labour Party agenda to continue pushing water charges legislation through the House.

As my colleague, Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, noted, the Bill will do two things. The first is to allow creditors, including Irish Water and other utility companies and multinationals, to apply to the court for an order enabling an attachment of earnings or deductions from social welfare payments for the purpose of the enforcement of a debt of between €500 and €4,000.

This will clearly affect low-income households and people who cannot afford to pay the debt. In the case of a debt as small as €500 it is likely that the debtor cannot afford to pay, which tells us much about who the Bill targets.

The introduction of an option of making attachment orders will also attack those on low pay and social welfare most. There is no provision that requires creditors to resolve the issue outside of adversarial court proceedings, nor does the Bill provide a means of appealing an attachment order. While an order can be varied, it cannot be appealed on the grounds that is unfair or unjust, which clearly favours creditors and limits debtors' rights.

The minimum amount for which a creditor may take a case to court is a debt of €500. Given the Government's commitment to water charges and the increased arrears that will inevitably accrue to those with unpaid water bills, it will take only two years for the outstanding payment to reach the €500 threshold. This will have a serious impact on households in which €500 amounts to a large proportion of income and create considerable stress. While the sums in question may not be significant for many of the Members present, I assure the House that, for the majority of the constituents I meet every week, they are the difference between paying the rent, filling a petrol tank to bring children to school and putting food on the table.

The day-to-day realities of struggling families are acutely real and I find it scandalous, as do many of my colleagues on this side of the House, that the Labour Party chooses to play down the hardship being imposed on already struggling citizens and families. The party is making the wrong choices by implementing measures such as those provided for in this Bill.

The statement of means to be provided by a debtor is a burden given the volume of information required. How many hard-pressed households will be in a position to provide this information? This requirement will come at a cost to such families.

The protected earnings rate is not by any means a sufficiently strong safeguard as it does not take account of any small income surplus a family and people in receipt of social welfare payments will need as a safety net to survive.

The provision of sufficient water and sanitation is an essential public service and a human right recognised by the United Nations. It should be freely available to all regardless of wealth or income. All citizens need clean drinking water and quality sanitation. Sinn Féin is with all those who are calling on the Government to recognise and legislate for access to water as a human right, rather than imposing crippling sanctions on those who cannot afford to pay, as is provided for in the Bill.

Water charges will discriminate against working people and the unemployed. They are a regressive tax dressed up as an effort to improve the water system. It is abundantly clear that this is not the purpose of water charges. The public water system is paid for through a progressive system of general taxation and that should continue to be the position. The Government has given a temporary commitment to provide a free annual allowance of 30,000 litres of water, with a further free annual allowance of 38,000 litres per child. These allowances, which are insufficient in any case, will almost certainly be reduced in the years ahead. Given that a typical shower uses approximately 80 litres of water, a person who showers once per day will use his or her entire annual allowance before using any water to drink, wash dishes and clothes or flush toilets.

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