People who don't pay their water charges face having their bills deducted from their wages and social welfare payments without getting a chance to argue their case in court.

The Government is intent on ensuring Irish Water can achieve "full compliance" and is preparing "major legislation" which will hand new powers to judges.

As revealed earlier this week, under the proposals Irish Water will be allowed to obtain a court order to deduct the charges.

However, it has emerged that this may be done without the need for a court hearing.

Hearing

Instead, a "list system" is set to be introduced whereby dozens of non-payers will have their bills deducted in a single court hearing.

Government officials are keen to avoid the need for individual court appearances due to the impact it would have on the court system.

"We can't have a situation whereby people are brought to court one by one," said a source.

"Achieving full compliance once bills start to take effect has to be the aim here."

But sources last night emphasised the legal complexities still surrounding the measures, which have not yet gone before Cabinet.

As revealed by the Irish Independent this week, the new law will allow for Irish Water to apply to the District Court for an attachment order if the utility can provide clear evidence of non-payment.

If the bill is left unpaid for a year and there is no engagement with the utility, a €30 fine will be applied to one-adult households, and €60 for a house with two or more adult occupants.

If the householder continues to refuse to engage, they can be taken to court, where judges will have the power to order an attachment of earnings, meaning the outstanding charges will be deducted before the defaulter's salary or pension is paid.

The court will also be able to register the charge against the property, preventing it from being sold unless the debt is paid.

People on social welfare will pay a small amount per week, leaving them with a minimum of €186 to live on.

Meanwhile, director of policy at the Free Legal Advice Centres human rights group Paul Joyce said the move to introduce attachments of earnings orders payments needs to be carefully considered. Attachment of earnings orders have been used in Britain since the 1970s in debt cases, Mr Joyce said.

He warned that using attachments of earnings orders would not work for the self-employed, as they usually do not have one employer.

"Using attachments of earnings orders is a big step to take. It should be only used as an absolutely last resort.

"It would be a problem for people in work as it may not go down well with your employer, especially if you handle money as part of your job," Mr Joyce said.

Attachment of earnings orders are already used in family law cases, where a parent or spouse fails to comply with court orders to pay the likes of maintenance.

And the Revenue Commissioners can direct an employer, pension provider or the Department of Social Protection to deduct the property tax at source and have it sent to the tax authorities when people refuse to pay.

However, employers are not aware if the deduction to pay the property tax is voluntary or has been ordered by Revenue in the face of a resistance to pay, a spokeswoman for Revenue said.

Revenue can get an attachment of earnings order for all other taxes too, but tends to operate to specific guidelines, the spokeswoman added.

But there is no legal facility to have attachments of earnings orders put in place when a debt judgment is made against a consumer, despite calls for this from a number of groups.

Irish Independent