Unpaid debts - Prison is not the answer

The Law Reform Commission’s report on Personal Debt Management and Debt Enforcement is being published today.

It is likely to attract considerable attention in the midst of the existing economic crisis, when it seems that most successful developers, the banks, and even the country as a whole are insolvent.

The report, which runs to 440 pages, includes a draft for a Personal Insolvency Bill. Among some 200 recommendations is the suggestion that nobody should be jailed for personal debt, including those who can afford to pay but refuse to do so.

A person in jail for the non-payment of a debt is taking up the prison place that could be occupied by a criminal who is a real danger to society.

In such circumstances, the commission’s director of research was right in suggesting that it makes no sense to jail somebody for a year for a debt of €1,000, when it costs the state €70,000 to keep that person in jail for the year.

Imprisoning for debts, which so marred earlier eras, is an anachronism that should be confined to the pages of history. Instead those who refuse to pay their debts should be compelled to do community service.