§ Mr. Goodhartasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether debt collection procedures under the Emergency Provisions Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 apply to civil servants in the Northern Ireland Office.
§ Mr. Merlyn Rees,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 17th May 1976; Vol. 911, c. 375–6], gave the following information:
The arrangements for recovery of debts are set out in Section 1 of the Payments for Debt (Emergency Provisions) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 passed by the Northern Ireland Parliament and, as a consequence, are restricted to deductions from payments made oy Northern Ireland Departments or local or public authorities. These arrangements do not, therefore, apply to payments of salary to civil servants in the Northern Ireland Office or in other United Kingdom Departments. They apply, however, to 708W any benefits such as family allowances, which are payable to such civil servants by a Northern Ireland Department.