Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

A personal insolvency Bill is in the course of being developed in my Department to provide for a new framework for settlement and enforcement of debt and for personal insolvency. I have engaged in detailed discussions with officials in my Department with regard to the content of such a Bill. The provision of this legislation is a commitment under the EU-IMF programme and is intended for publication in the first quarter of 2012. However, it is my objective to publish, if possible, the measure ahead of the EU-IMF deadline given the importance of addressing this area of our law and putting it into a modern framework.

In developing the Bill, account is being taken of the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission in its recent report on personal debt management and debt enforcement. That report provided an in-depth review of the personal debt regime. The economic and financial effects of certain of the new arrangements are being carefully assessed to ensure that all relevant issues are addressed and their impact is fully anticipated and understood. It must be clearly understood that the reform of the law with regard to bankruptcy and insolvency is not simply a matter of a change of legal structure. There are consequences of an economic and financial nature which impact on individuals and the wider community in the context of the reforms we ultimately adopt.

The civil law (miscellaneous provisions) Bill, which is being drafted with a view to publication as soon as possible this year, will contain some interim measures on reform of the law on bankruptcy. The previous Government published a Bill which contained certain measures in that area and I have engaged in a review of that legislation. There will be some modification of its content, as will be clear when the new Bill is published. As it stands, the Bankruptcy Act 1988 does not meet the needs of modern social and economic conditions. Consideration is currently being given to the specific measures that will be contained in this Bill, which I envisage will comprehensively reform the law in this area.

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