Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will move on to the issue of a family home in a bankruptcy scenario. A list of scenarios was helpfully provided in Appendix 1. It is difficult for people to get their heads around this issue when facing the stressful decision of whether to apply for bankruptcy. I put a point to Mr. Ross Maguire when he appeared before the committee a number of weeks ago. He advocated bankruptcy as a viable option for many debtors, but people are reluctant to go down that road. They believe that if they lose their family homes, they will never again have the opportunity to get credit to purchase another. What is Mr. Lehane's response? He has asserted that, in many cases, someone will retain at least a share of his or her home and the official assignee's share in it might remain for a long time, but many people remain concerned.