LRC: No one should be jailed for failing to repay debt

NO ONE should ever be jailed for failing to repay personal debt, not even those who can pay but won’t, according to recommendations by the Law Reform Commission (LRC) which will be published today.

The commission will recommend that those who fly in the face of a court order and “wilfully refuse” to repay debt, despite having the capacity to do so, should be ordered to do community service instead.

Commission director of research Raymond Byrne said it made good economic sense not to jail people for personal debt.