Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I stand corrected, but six years still seems to me to be an unconscionably long time. At the moment, the Minister is driving people to take up temporary addresses in Britain where they are declaring themselves bankrupt. They will then be back in this jurisdiction in 12 months. On balance, I think that six years is still a long time.

I referred to MABS, the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, which would come at it from an entirely different point of view in terms of the consumer. MABS has been quite cautious in its response to this Bill. It says the processes and costs are still the same, while the time period is still long by international comparison. MABS stated that it would still not recommend it as an option for the people it is dealing with, some 70% of whom are on social welfare. I was surprised at the figures that MABS adduced. It said that there were only eight bankruptcies in Ireland in 2008, rising to 17 in 2009. MABS says that is still quite low given the level of debt in the country. I am afraid to say that the figure for 2010 will be seriously in excess of that.

The Law Reform Commission recommends a far more fundamental overhaul of the law in this area than is in the Bill. I do not know if the Minister will do the preparatory work, so that his successor can bring forward the Bill as early as possible next year, if the Minister is having a well-earned rest on the Opposition backbenches at that time.

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