Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 35:

In page 7, line 20, to delete "21 days" and substitute "30 days".

My apologies, I did not realise they were all grouped. I would be interested to hear if the Minister has reflected on the proposal to increase the period for allowing persons to pay fines from 21 days to 30 days. I appreciate that 21 days is the norm but that does not necessarily mean it is right. Given that the financial cycle now tends to operate on a 30-day cycle, with people being paid monthly and visa and credit cards payments operating on a monthly cycle, 30 days prior to interest accruing, a 30-day period would be much more appropriate in this respect. A 21-day period, irrespective of from which Department this comes, is out of date. I am sure the Acting Chairman, being an accountant by profession, would agree. I hope the Minister will indicate a willingness to accept this amendment for the purpose of allowing people an additional nine days to pay a fine. It makes sense. There is no rationale for having a payment period of 21 days versus 30 days. This is a reasonable proposal. The Minister will probably make the argument that other Departments have a set payment period of 21 days. That might have worked in 1985 or 1995 but we live in 2017 and these are changed financial times where people live from paycheck to paycheck, from month to month. Also, the 30-day cycle is relevant to every other aspect of economic activity within a household, for example, mortgage payments and credit card statements. Therefore, a 30-day payment cycle would be much more appropriate. I should have probably pushed it out to 31 days because 30 days does not cover some calendar months. I would be interested to hear the Minister's response.