Report calls for cut in bankruptcy term

TDs and senators are calling on the Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald, to cut the bankruptcy term to one year from three, in a report published on Friday.

Personal insolvency law has already cut the Republic’s bankruptcy term to three years from 12, bringing it closer in line with other jurisdictions with similar legal systems.

However, in a report published on Friday, the Oireachtas joint committee on justice, defence and equality, recommends that the minister cut the period to one year, but to all it to be extended up to three years in some circumstances.

The committee, a cross-party group of TDs and senators chaired by Deputy David Stanton, began considering the issue in May and received submissions from interested organisations and individuals, some of which outlined personal experiences of bankruptcy.

It also compared regimes in other jurisdictions, such as the UK, US, Australia and Canada, which have terms ranging from nine months to three years, and EU proposals recommending a three-year term for business people.

Arguing in favour of a reduction, the committee’s report observes that this is needed to aid recovery and enable those in bankruptcy to become “positive contributors to the economy”.

It also says that a one-year term would make lenders more willing to engage with debtors to reach meaningful solutions under the existing personal insolvency regime.

While the 12-year term was still in place at the beginning of the recession, a number of high-profile property developers defected to the UK, where they then took advantage of that jurisdiction’s more lenient regime.