The State is being urged to end the practise of imprisoning people who fail to pay their debts.
276 people were imprisoned in 2008 for failing to pay a debt, an increase of 37% on the previous year.
In a report published this morning FLAC found that the majority of debtors do not understand the implications of the legal documents served on them and most do not turn up to court.
The Free Legal Advice Centre says the practise of sending debtors to jail was out of date and needs to be reformed.
It also outlines the impact that the threat of imprisonment has on the debtors and their families with many citing ill-health and mental health problems as a result of the threat.
It says all of those surveyed in the report were willing to repay their debt but were unable to because of a change in their financial circumstances because of illness, unemployment, marital separation or the failure of a business.
The majority of those in debt were men, with children, who did not own their own home, had multiple debts and had an income of less than €300 a week.
FLAC says more needs to be done to direct debtors to get assistance with their finances.
It says creditors should be obliged to take more steps to investigate the debtor’s situation.
It says there is an inherent inequality in the system because those in debt cannot afford legal representation and it says imprisonment does not improve the situation.
It is calling for the threat of imprisonment to be removed, an alternative system to be implemented and for cases to be dealt with in private.
It also wants debtors to be given appropriate, accessible financial and legal information.
