Mr. Lorcan O'Connor:

I would certainly agree with the Chairman's first comment that there is nothing to be ashamed of in availing of one of these arrangements. Indeed, in the vast majority of cases candidates are likely to be there as a victim of circumstance rather than anything they would necessarily have done themselves. I would not see being on a register or availing of any of these arrangements as a reason for being ashamed. People certainly should not be ashamed of availing of one of these solutions. Rather, they are going to creditors and giving a clear message to say that they have put up their hands and accepted that they have a difficulty with their debts, but with the advice of a practitioner, they are seeing what they can do to repay as much as possible and, beyond that, to have their financial difficulties dealt with.

In terms of the operation of the registers, ultimately that will be a policy matter. The ISI's role is to do what is required of us by the legislation, but those registers exist in other jurisdictions. They exist now in terms of somebody who is declared bankrupt or has a judgment registered against him or her.