5. In this Part—
“appropriate authority” means the responsible court or the collection officer as the case may be;
“earnings” has the meaning given in regulation 6;
“net earnings” means the residue of earnings after deduction of—
income tax;
primary Class 1 contributions under Part 1 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992(1);
amounts deductible by way of contributions to a superannuation scheme which provides for the payment of annuities or lump sums—
to the debtor on retirement at a specified age or on becoming incapacitated at some earlier age; or
on the debtor’s death or otherwise, to the debtor’s personal representative, widow, widower, surviving civil partner, relatives or dependants;
“pay-day” means an occasion on which earnings are paid to the debtor or the day on which such earnings would normally fall to be paid;
“protected earnings proportion” is 60 per cent of the debtor’s net earnings during the period to which a deduction from the debtor’s earnings under the Act relates, as calculated by the employer on the applicable pay-day.