Civil Debt (Procedures) Act 2015

• Permanent Page URL

Definitions

1. In this Act—

“Act of 1926” means the Enforcement of Court Orders Act 1926 ;

“Act of 1940” means the Enforcement of Court Orders Act 1940 ;

“Act of 2005” means the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 ;

“Act of 2009” means the Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Act 2009 ;

“attachment of earnings order” means an order under section 10 (1);

“contract of employment” means—

(a) a contract of service or apprenticeship, or

(b) any other contract whereby an individual agrees with another person, who is carrying on the business of an employment agency within the meaning of the Employment Agency Act 1971 and is acting in the course of that business, to do or perform personally any work or service for a third person (whether or not the third person is a party to the contract);

“credit” has the meaning it has in section 2 (1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1995 ;

“debt” does not include a debt for repayment of credit provided to the debtor—

(a) by a person pursuant to an authorisation to provide credit in the State granted by the Central Bank of Ireland or an authority that performs functions in an EEA country that are comparable to the functions performed by the Central Bank of Ireland, or

(b) by any other person holding himself or herself out as carrying on a business of, and whose business consists wholly or partly of, providing credit in the State and who provided the credit in the ordinary course of that business;

“deduction from payments order” means an order under section 16 (1);

“earnings” means any sums payable to a person—

(a) by way of wages or salary (including any fees, bonus, commission, overtime pay or other emoluments payable in addition to wages or salary or payable under a contract of service), and

(b) by way of pension or other like benefit in respect of employment (including an annuity in respect of past services, whether or not rendered to the person paying the annuity, and including periodical payments by way of compensation for the loss, abolition or relinquishment, or diminution in the emoluments, of any office or employment);

“EEA Agreement” means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992, as adjusted by all subsequent amendments to that Agreement;

“EEA country” means a state that is a contracting party to the EEA Agreement;

“employer”, in relation to a judgment debtor, means a person who employs the judgment debtor under a contract of employment, subject to the qualification that the person who under a contract of employment referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of “contract of employment” is liable to pay the earnings of the judgment debtor in respect of the work or service concerned shall be deemed to be the judgment debtor’s employer, and includes a trustee of a pension scheme under which the judgment debtor is receiving periodical pension benefits;

“judgment” includes an order or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction;

“judgment creditor” means a person who has obtained judgment against another person in respect of a debt;

“judgment debt” means, in relation to a judgment creditor, the amount payable under the judgment obtained by the judgment creditor and includes any amount remaining due after payment or recovery of part thereof;

“judgment debtor” means, in relation to a judgment creditor, the person against whom judgment has been obtained by the judgment creditor;

“Minister” means the Minister for Justice and Equality;

“net scheme payments”, in relation to a judgment debtor, means the amount, other than any amount specified in columns (3) to (8) of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Act of 2005 or columns (3) to (8) of Part 1 of Schedule 4 to that Act, payable weekly under a scheme to the judgment debtor by the Minister for Social Protection after the making of—

(a) any deductions for the purposes referred to in section 341(7) of the Act of 2005,

(b) any deductions for the purposes of section 84 of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 ,

(c) any deductions for the purposes of section 53 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 , and

(d) any deduction of any amounts required to be deducted by an order of a court;

“personal public service number” has the same meaning as it has in section 262 of the Act of 2005;

“relevant order” means an attachment of earnings order or a deduction from payments order, as appropriate;

“relevant total amount” means, in relation to a relevant order, the total amount specified in the order as being payable under the order to the judgment creditor concerned;

“scheme” means a scheme that is prescribed under section 24 ;

“statement of means” means a statement of means furnished by a judgment debtor under section 7 or, in relation to a relevant order that has been varied under section 20 , the statement of means furnished by the judgment debtor under subsection (2) or (4) of that section;

“verifying certificate” means a certificate of the Minister for Social Protection under section 7 (3)or, as the case may be, section 19 .