Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 December 2014
232. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Finance his views on comments that it is easier for a borrower to travel to the United Kingdom and declare bankruptcy and be back in business after one year than to deal with the information demands and restrictions sought by the National Asset Management Agency. [46383/14]
View answerAs highlighted in my Department's Section 227 review of NAMA, one of the risks to NAMA is debtor fatigue. Debtors have engaged with NAMA on the establishment and implementation of business plans with a view to paying off their loans. However, debtors are seeking a certainty on recourse and an ultimate exit from their relationship with NAMA. The longer the debtor resolution process extends, the more a debtor may feel that insolvency or bankruptcy may be an alternative means to quickly end their relationship with NAMA.
NAMA advises me that it tracks all its debtors which declare bankruptcy. The Deputy will be aware that the discharge of any individual from a bankruptcy process is governed by the provisions of the relevant legislation in the jurisdiction concerned. Depending on the jurisdiction it may take a period after discharge before a debtor's creditors are notified. I am advised by NAMA that it has procedures in place to monitor the discharge from bankruptcy of its debtors in all of the main jurisdictions.
