Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Section 16 provides for the deduction of civil debt from a person's welfare payments. This is the most Thatcherite provision in the Bill. We are talking about the most vulnerable in our society - pensioners, the sick, the disabled and the unemployed. It is particularly difficult for young people looking for their first employment or older workers who are made redundant through no fault of their own after the firm in which they worked for most of their lives closes without notice. It would be understandable if such individuals fell into debt. The debts do not need to be large because the legislation has a minimum threshold of €500 for court orders for attachment of earnings or deductions from social welfare payments.

Let us take the case of an unemployed young person with limited work experience who in the normal run of things will already struggle to find secure employment. How much harder will it be for that person to get a job if the first question in the interview is whether he or she has a court order that may require attachment of earnings to clear a civil debt? I imagine such a question would dampen the young person's enthusiasm and blunt his or her willingness to learn. The question may render meaningless his or her qualifications, or admirable references, because of the fact that he or she built up a modest debt. As it is difficult to repay even modest debts when one is unemployed, an order may have been made to deduct the repayments from his or her welfare payments. What chance will individuals have of securing their first job with attachment orders hanging over their heads?

An older person who becomes unemployed already faces certain obstacles in finding a new job. Sadly, age in itself becomes an obstacle in some cases. Employers may consider those who are highly qualified as overly skilled for the position while others have worked for 20 or 30 years in a trade or job for which there is no longer a demand. The longer they stay unemployed, the older they get and the less relevant their qualifications become. It is not difficult to imagine such citizens falling into debt. As deduction orders made from their social welfare would translate into attachment of earnings orders if they are lucky enough to get a job, how realistic are their chances of finding gainful employment? Will the employers want the hassle of dealing with that scenario? I do not think the Government has given serious thought to the way in which these orders could impede future employment prospects. On that basis, we oppose this section.