Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator Quinn wishes to see this section removed from the Bill but the section provides for the making of attachment orders directing a person’s employer to deduct a fine from the person’s earnings and pay it to the Courts Service. The introduction of attachment of earnings is a commitment in the programme for Government and it is one that makes a lot of sense.

When the court imposes a fine the person on whom it is imposed is required to pay it, that is the law, after due process. If that person is in employment, with sufficient earnings to pay the fine, he or she should pay it. There is no doubt about that. If the person chooses not to pay the fine the State is entirely within its right to recover the fine from the person’s earnings. As to the additional work that attachment orders will create for employers, attachment orders have been a feature of family law for almost 40 years and employers are also required to make other deductions from employees’ earnings routinely. Payroll administration, as the Senator is aware, is well equipped to make all sorts of deductions, at the instigation of either the employee or the State. An employee can avoid all of this by paying the fine. This applies only at the end of a year-long process, if he or she has not paid. The attachment provisions have to be seen as part of an integrated approach.

As I understand it, the name of the employer is not mentioned in court. The judge makes the order. There is no publication of the employer's name. The 2010 Act allows for the publication of the names of people who default on their fines. That has been omitted from this legislation. It will not continue. The privacy of the employer is not breached in this context.

The logic of the Senator’s position is that, even though a person can afford to pay a fine the State should not make any effort to recover it. While I appreciate the Senator holds a view, I believe he errs, when the person has the income to pay the fine. I respect his views but the Government stands with the majority of people who pay their fines and will make every effort to recover them from those who can afford to pay them. We think, therefore, that this section should stand part of the Bill.