Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Lorcan O'Connor and Mr. John Farrell for attending the committee. In the previous session, Mr. David Hall was eloquent and critical of the banks and creditors in a robust way. However, given the fact the Insolvency Service of Ireland is a statutory organisation and is constrained in the language it can use, I felt what its representatives said today about the non-co-operation of creditors was as equally significant and damning, albeit worded in a more restrained manner. It is clear creditors are behaving in a way that is utterly unacceptable and are clearly trying to frustrate the personal insolvency legislation. That is simply not good enough. The Insolvency Service of Ireland indicated creditors have not conformed to the spirit of the legislation, making it clear the letter of the legislation is not strong enough. There is a responsibility on the Oireachtas to resolve that and ensure the legislation is strong enough.

Is a legislative change required to allow the Insolvency Service of Ireland to approve insolvency arrangements? Is change required to give clarity on the manner with which a creditor wishes a debt to be dealt? Is a legislative change required to ensure that only arguments raised during the protective certificate period can be raised in a court review? Would such a restriction be difficult? Would that encourage creditors to make the discussions during the protective certificate period more protracted to take into account more factors, which might potentially make that process more difficult?