Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Mr. O'Connor says that the Personal Insolvency Act balances the interests of debtors and creditors where creditors are dealing with secured debt. I do not agree, because it is not a level playing field. Many of the criticisms of the legislation, such as criticism by FLAC about the bank veto, have proven to be correct. Mr. O'Connor said that some of these players would come to the table in due course. He said that the DRN and the DSA had been tried and tested in other countries and that the PIA is somewhat different. Should we consider moving away from the assisted mediation model and towards an adjudication model that gives the ISI teeth to determine whether an arrangement should be put in place? This is an interim position between what we have now and bankruptcy. We need another layer that moves us away from mediation and mediated settlement.

We need an interim plateau level which I would term "adjudication", for want of a better word.