Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Section 20 deals with the provision of a variation order. This, again, has been hailed as a safeguard by the Government. This is not a safeguard and it is definitely not an appeals mechanism, as some have suggested. Another major flaw with the Bill is the lack of an appeals mechanism. Sometimes courts can get it very wrong. An attachment of earnings or the so-called protected earnings rate may be incorrect. It may be so incorrect that it merits a new hearing but the Bill does not allow for that. Instead, a debtor can get the order varied. Given that it is not good procedural practice, we oppose the section.