Jack Wall
Question:135 Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider a matter (details supplied) regarding insolvency legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6704/12]
View answerTuesday, 7 February 2012
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My colleague, Mr. Alan Shatter TD, Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, has now published the Heads of a Personal Insolvency Bill for Oireachtas and public consultation.
The Bill will provide for a new framework for the formal settlement of debt and for personal insolvency. The proposed reform will consist of the following main elements:
a revised judicial process (bankruptcy) to provide for a 3 year period for automatic discharge from bankruptcy, from the current 12 years.
the introduction of a new debt write-off process (Debt Relief Certificates) for low level indebtedness where the debtor has effectively no income and no assets and has unsecured debts amounting up to €20,000.
the introduction of a new non-judicial debt settlement process for unsecured debt only amounting to over €20,000 (Debt Settlement Arrangement).
the introduction of a new non-judicial debt settlement process for secured (and if applicable also unsecured debt) for amounts of between €20,000 and €3 million (Personal Insolvency Arrangement).
The draft Bill as published for consultation does not exclude debt, either unsecured or secured (including mortgage related), owed to a local authority.
Part 5 of the draft Bill, which provides for a Personal Insolvency Arrangement (PIA) framework, proposes that, subject to certain eligibility criteria, an insolvent debtor may make a proposal to address unsustainable secured debt, including mortgage debt, in a non-judicial manner. The debtor can also propose to concurrently address unsecured debt, if any, in this framework. The PIA as set out allows for a high degree of flexibility as to the type of solution that could be agreed for mortgage and other secured debt and does not exclude the possibility of shared ownership scenarios.
Upon conclusion of the consultation process, the Bill will be considered further by Government in advance of the publication of a Bill before the end of April in line with the revised commitment in the EU/IMF Programme of Financial Support. The Bill will also fulfil the relevant commitment in the Programme for Government.