Mr. Lorcan O'Connor:

I believe that it is realistic. Let us examine the situation. Up to now, if a debtor said to a bank, "If you don't sit down and try to come to an arrangement with me then I will seek to declare myself bankrupt," the threat may not have been given much weight, simply because bankruptcy would have lasted for 12 years and was not an attractive option for a debtor. Once the reform of the Bankruptcy Act is passed, which is envisaged by the end of the month, the automatic discharge period will decrease from 12 years to three years, so a bankruptcy threat will be far more real. The three-year period for bankruptcy is in line with European norms. To me, if a bank approached the matter in a commercially logical way it would consider that bankruptcy was not good news, that the threat was real, and that, therefore, it should give negotiations a chance and try to reach an arrangement.