§ 6. Mr. Matherasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what sums are outstanding for the non-payment of rents, rates, car and television licences; and for what other categories sums are outstanding.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. J. D. Concannon)On 31st March 1975 about £3,765,000 was owed in rents to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, and about £4,670,000 in rates to the Department of Finance. About £2 million was owed for electricity and £1,600,000 for gas. It is estimated that about £680,000 was outstanding from people who had failed to take out television licences. It is not possible to give a reliable estimate of sums owing for vehicle excise duty.
§ Mr. MatherI deplore the continuation of this situation. Will the Minister say how many of these cases are not covered by the payment of debts legislation, and what is the position concerning prosecutions? Are they taking place for non-payment of rents, rates and licences?
§ Mr. ConcannonI can give only a rough estimate of the proportion of non-payment due to civil disobedience. For electricity it was less than two-fifths, for rents less than one-fifth, for rates less than one-sixth and for gas less than one-eighth. The answers to Questions Nos. 1, 2 and 4 today will give some idea of the difficulty in Northern Ireland of collecting these payments and of following the procedures which are normally adopted in the case of rent, rate, gas and electricity defaulters in this country.
§ Mrs. KnightIs it not the case that the reason why a good deal of this money cannot be collected is that no-go areas still exist, particularly in Londonderry?
§ Mr. Merlyn Reesindicated dissent.
§ Mrs. KnightWill the Minister urge his right hon. Friend to bear this in mind when he starts to think again of letting people out of internment?
§ Mr. ConcannonThere is a problem of non-payment of rents, but it affects not only one faction of the community. It has now spread across the whole community.