Mr. Paul Joyce:

The personal insolvency legislation allows for both secured and unsecured debts to be written down by way of a personal insolvency arrangement. However, many people do not have sufficient income to propose such an arrangement. Even if an arrangement is proposed by a personal insolvency practitioner on behalf of an insolvent debtor, the lender effectively decides whether to pass the arrangement. If a person's only secured debt is a mortgage, the lender has a complete veto over whether the proposal passes.

The legislation envisages that the insolvency practitioner would, at least, look for the write-down of the secured debt to something approaching the market value of the property, something Mr. Hall's organisation has achieved in some instances. Currently, however, the lender decides and there is no appeal or review. It is a one-sided equation, just like the code of conduct on mortgage arrears.