Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This Bill serves as further proof of the Government's tendency to legislate in favour of the well-off and against the interests of citizens. Under the Haddington Road agreement, the Minister, Deputy Howlin, and this Government have agreed that former Ministers and taoisigh will get significant increases in their five-figure and six-figure pensions, which are already substantial. Citizens are understandably outraged. Léargas eile is ea é seo ar an gcaoi ina bhfuil dlí amháin ann do dhaoine saibhre agus dlí eile do dhaoine eile. This Government has imposed four years of austerity. Citizens face a range of new bills for water charges, property taxes and septic tank charges. VAT bills have increased and there has been a general increase in consumption taxes. There has also been forced emigration.

This Government has deliberately planned for a low wage economy. It is responsible for the worst trolley figures in our hospitals for more than 12 years, with 333 citizens on trolleys across the State today, including 35 at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, which is in my constituency. There has been a general rundown in public services. The number of children living in poverty has doubled. It is estimated that 12,000 lone parent families, including many in my constituency, are facing significant cuts of up to €86 per week as a result of a decision taken by Labour Party and Fine Gael Deputies last week. We learned yesterday that Dublin City Council is facing an €18.5 million shortfall as it seeks to tackle the growing homeless problem in the city and will run out of money in October. Some 67 families were made homeless in Dublin in May. A further 65 families were made homeless in June. Ciallaíonn na staitisticí seo go bhfuil breis is 1,000 páiste gan dídean.

The Government is adding to its litany of bad decisions and misery today by guillotining the debate on the Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015 in this House. This regressive legislation targets the low-paid by enabling applications to be made for attachment orders that will allow money to be taken out of wages, welfare payments and pensions to pay for water charges, credit debts and other utility bills. When the Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, joined the Labour Party in his first flush of idealism, thereby signing up to the great historic party of James Connolly, I wonder whether he thought he would be sitting in this Chamber to shepherd through such a Bill. This is a reactionary Government's reactionary response to the popular outrage at the imposition of water charges. No similar legislation has been introduced in response to corruption, white-collar crime or the despicable behaviour of the insiders in the golden circle, about which we hear every day.

As a result of this Bill, families struggling to make ends meet will have their incomes reduced further. This law and the stigma attached to it will become another hurdle for people who are seeking work. It is a bad Bill for businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, which will be tasked with implementing it. In effect, the Government is forcing employers to become debt collectors and debt payees for the State, just as it did with landlords. It is also forcing them to become involved with the courts. This legislation will empower the courts to make an order directing an employer to deduct certain specified amounts from the debtor's earnings and to pay the sums deducted in the manner specified to the creditor. Some 70% of workers outside the public sector are employed by small and medium-sized enterprises, which are now facing an additional bureaucratic and expensive administrative burden.

The Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, said on Friday that the Bill "will not be directed at those who cannot pay but rather at those who can pay but choose not to", but she knows it will be used against people in debt who cannot pay. Everybody knows that. If one owes money for gas, electricity, Christmas presents, a communion dress, a washing machine or beds or other furniture, all of one's creditors will be able to take one to court and seek to have money taken from one's welfare, pensions or wages. Deputy Catherine Byrne has argued that this is an entirely appropriate way to deal with people who spend all their money on drink and cigarettes. The Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015 is essentially another bill for desperate families and citizens to pay. I thought of concluding by saying the Labour Party should be ashamed of endorsing this Bill, but that would be a waste of time. Last week, it voted to take money from the pockets and purses of thousands of lone parents.

As I said at the outset, former Ministers and taoisigh will gain more than the low-paid under the Haddington Road agreement. This means that Ministers, including those who are bringing through this Bill, will get more out of the Haddington Road agreement than low-paid workers who will have this legislation used against them. Tá siad agus an Rialtas gan náire. Iarraim ar Theachtaí Dála gan tacaíocht a thabhairt don Bhille seo.

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