Seanad debates

Friday, 17 July 2015

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage

 

10:30 am

Photo of Trevor Ó ClochartaighTrevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Deirtear i nGaeilge "cuir síoda ar ghabhar agus is gabhar i gcónaí é". Is léir go bhfuil síoda á chur ar an ngabhar áirithe seo ó thaobh an Bhille atá os ár gcomhair. Cuireadh an mír a bhaineann le deireadh a chur le daoine a chur i bpríosún ar bhunús nach bhfuil a gcuid fíneálacha íoctha acu isteach sa Bhille seo ar aon turas ionas go mbeadh Teachtaí agus Seanadóirí an Rialtais in ann tacaíocht a thabhairt don reachtaíocht seo. Seachas an mír úd, is beag atá ann gur fiú a mholadh.

The way the Bill has been dealt with by the Government has been a farce since the beginning. The Bill goes hand in hand with the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, which has been rushed through the Houses in the past fortnight. The Government is clearly desperate to deal with the Irish Water debacle before the recess so that, come the autumn, Irish Water will not be a subject of Oireachtas debate ahead of a possible election. It goes without saying that Sinn Féin does not support the primary objective of the Bill. While we welcome the abolition of imprisonment for debtors who cannot pay, the provisions in the rest of the Bill are Thatcherite, and it is disgraceful that the Labour Party, in particular, is supporting those Thatcherite elements.

The Bill is clearly aimed at the low-paid and those on social welfare. The process as outlined in the Bill will mean a creditor will first have to have obtained a judgment against a debtor in respect of a debt, and may then make an application to the District Court for an attachment of earnings order or a deduction from payments where the judgment concerned is for a liquidated sum of not less than €500 but no greater than €4,000. The debtor will then have to furnish the court with a statement of means so the court can determine the protected earning rate of a debtor. The statement of means is a massive burden for debtors to prepare. The protected earning rate safeguard is insufficient.

The bottom line is that the Bill creates a situation whereby companies can use the courts to take money from the pockets of debtors who owe a substantially small debt in the grand scheme of things. It is truly scandalous that the Government is proposing the Bill and, particularly, that the Labour Party Senators, Deputies and Ministers support it.

With regard to the €500 minimum debt for which an attachment order can be made, an unpaid water charge debt will take only two years to accumulate this amount. The Bill means a debtor will be dragged before a judge with no recourse to appeal. How does this differentiate, as the Government claims it does, between those who cannot and those who will not pay? It is intimidation by the Government and it is galling.

Furthermore, the Bill places an application on employers to comply with such attachment orders. The Bill compels employers to be Government debt collectors and do its dirty work. It means an employer must seriously damage the relationship he or she has with an employee by collecting the money. If the employer does not do so, the courts will fine him or her. Not satisfied with burdening employers with the role of debt collectors, the Government is stipulating that employers must go through the courts as part of normal employment behaviour. For an employer to determine whether particular payments are earnings, he or she must make an application to the court under the legislation. He or she may also be required to provide to the court a statement of specified particulars of his or her employees' earnings and expected earnings. As if employers do not have enough to do already, they will now have to deal with court documents and procedures. Where an employee against whom an attachment order has been made changes employment, the new employer must notify the court. Setting aside for a moment the excessive administrative burden the Government is imposing on employers, imagine the impact of this measure on an employee-employer relationship.

As my colleagues in the Dáil have stated, Sinn Féin supports the second aim of the Bill. We agree with the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission to provide for the abolition of imprisonment of debtors, except in the case of maintenance arising from family law. It is in line with international best practice and human rights. The fact that this has been sneakily attached in one section at the very back of the Bill is cynical. To disguise the entire Bill as a step forward in dealing with civil debt in a modern way is shameful. Sinn Féin will submit amendments to the Bill and we will not support it as it is.The only way Sinn Féin will support the Bill is if it is amended to delete all sections which advocate the flawed approach to the recovery of debt in such an adversarial way. The only section in the Bill that has merit is the common-sense provisions that abolish the imprisonment of debtors. The rest of the Bill misses the bigger picture. To allow companies, including Irish Water, to use bully tactics to recover debt in this way is unnecessary and ruthless.

Léiríonn an Bille seo agus an Bille eile atá ag teacht tríd maidir le cúrsaí chomhshaoil an teip atá ann ó thaobh an Rialtais seo maidir leis an cur chuige atá aige ó thaobh Uisce Éireann. Is mór an scannal é agus is mór an náire é do na Teachtaí agus na Seanadóirí atá ag tacú leis an dá Bhille seo.

Comments

thomas mullins
Posted on 28 Aug 2015 9:27 pm (This comment has been reported to moderators)

I welcome the debt recovery with regards to unpaid fines rather than burdening the prison service and the tax payer needlessly, the savings made within the gardai, court and prison service will be sizable if implemented intelligently. However attachment orders to recover unpaid utility bills is an obvious move on behalf of government to stabilize revenue projections on behalf of water charges, I feel that such a move will only deepen the divide and worsen the Governments credibility with the electorate.
regards
Thomas Mullins

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