Irish Water: Bill would allow creditors seek attachment of earnings

Proposed new legislation to help creditors, including Irish Water, to recover debts of up to €4,000 through the District Court, will allow them to sue employers who fail to implement an order for repayments.

The Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015 also allows creditors to sue employers who fail to inform them that an employee who is the subject of an attachment of earnings order is no longer working for them.

The Bill, published by Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald on Tuesday, will allow creditors to seek an attachment of earnings order, for a deduction from a debtor’s wages, from the District Court.

Welfare deductions

It will apply to debts of between €500 and €4,000. Social welfare recipients may also have deductions made from their payments.

The law will also abolish the imprisonment of debtors, except for parents who fail to pay maintenance.

Under current legislation, creditors can seek repayment of a debt through a court order for the seizure and sale of goods, through instalment orders or through a judgment mortgage, which puts a charge against a person’s property.

The new Bill obliges an employer to apply an attachment order to an employee’s wages within 10 days of being notified.

Under section 24 of the Bill, a creditor “may sue for the sum as a simple contract debt” if the employer fails to comply with the obligations without reasonable excuse.

Threat of imprisonment

Ms Fitzgerald said the proposed law would abolish the threat of imprisonment and benefit small businesses and the self-employed in chasing those who will not pay.

Anti-Austerity Alliance TD Ruth Coppinger said it would take two years for an unpaid water bill to reach €500.

“It is not going to deal with the mass boycott of the charge, which is inevitable,” she said.