DEBT SETTLEMENT:MINISTER FOR Finance Michael Noonan confirmed the publication of new personal insolvency legislation has been postponed until the end of June.
The legislation, designed to deal with the heavy level of debt in the country, was due to have been published by the end of this month under the last set of deadlines set in January under the terms of the bailout programme.
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin said the legislation would be published and debated before the Dáil’s summer recess.
Describing the Bill as a “very complex piece of legislation”, he said it required “careful steering” through constitutional and legal issues.
The two-month delay was due to “some difficulties” that had been overcome for a legislation that was “robust”, “ground-breaking” and “constitutionally reforming”. The troika was concerned about getting the legislation “absolutely right”, he said at yesterday’s press conference.
The Bill would cut the bankruptcy period from 12 to three years. It also introduces three voluntary debt-settlement systems, outside of formal court insolvency. Under the proposals, both unsecured and secured debt, typically mortgages, would be covered by the new legislation. The banking industry has contested the inclusion of mortgages and has warned of dire consequences for the sector if people who can’t service their debts are allowed to get write-downs on their mortgages.