David Norris (Independent)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on this legislation, on which I also contributed on Second Stage. I mention in the presence of the senior Minister that the legislation appears principally to be a response to the McCann judgment. I recognise also that Ms Justice Laffoy issued a very good judgment in the case. I wish to put at the centre of this debate the human experience of the debtor. The Minister should note that many Senators greatly appreciate the work of the Northside Community Law Centre, without which the McCann case may not have reached a satisfactory conclusion.

While I compliment the Minister on having responded to the McCann case, as I stated on Second Stage, he has responded to half of the problem rather than the full problem. This may well be the reason my colleague, Senator Walsh, asked Senators to wait for the report of the Law Reform Commission. Different Governments have frequently asked us to wait for this or that report to be published. Unfortunately, I have always found this approach to be rather haphazard.

Senator Regan's amendment is considered and detailed but also clear and efficient. It is interesting to note that it is almost exactly the same length as the Bill, which tells us something about the degree of concern and interest the Senator has devoted to the matter. I am fully in favour of the idea of attachment and urge the Minister, even at this late stage, to take the matter on board.

The whole point of the McCann judgment was to avoid circumstances in which citizens are sent to jail. The amendment appears to be another mechanism, in this case an efficient one, to ensure that with regard to debt, a citizen is not needlessly sent to jail for a non-violent crime which, while possibly aggravating and financially dangerous for the other side, is not a crime of violence. Why should the taxpayer have to pay to keep people in jail over debts, some of which are for small sums? The attachment of earnings procedure appears to be an efficient method to address this matter and it is one of which I approve.

The reason I commented on the length of the amendment and compared it with the length of the Bill was that any difficulties or concerns I had appear to have been met by Senator Regan. For example, I was concerned that a circumstance could arise in which a person's income was attached to such an extent that he or she would experience difficulty in meeting the requirements of life, including the education of his or her children and so forth. I note, however, that section 8(4)(b) of the amendment requires that the protected earnings rate must be specified so that the court will determine a level of income below which, as a result of the attachment order, the person in question should not have to pay. I like the idea of consent in subsection (5) which states:

The particular of an attachment to earnings order may be agreed on consent by the debtor and the creditor in advance the hearing of an application under this section and may be ruled on by the Court as an order under this section.

The phraseology "in advance the hearing" sounds a bit odd. Presumably it means "in advance of". Perhaps the Minister can advise as to whether a preposition was left out or if this is legal language. If it is, it is a bit odd considering that the Minister has committed himself to using ordinary language. There may well be a simple explanation and I see that the Minister's advisor is smiling.