Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The Government is always open to taking on board constructive suggestions from any Member on legislation. That is why we have decided that the heads of the Bill will go immediately to the joint committee. We do not intend that to be a prolonged period and we are looking at having that process completed by the end of February and then moving ahead with the formal publication of the legislation thereafter.

Deputy Ó Cuív refers to radical change. This is radical change. There is no other legislative arrangement of this kind of which I am aware. Certainly there has been none in Ireland to date, nor is there any anywhere else of which I am aware that deals with the issue of secured debt in the way it is proposed to be dealt with in this legislation. This is not some kind of a voluntary optional arrangement for banks. This is legislation that is writing into law for the first time a range of non-judicial debt settlement arrangements which will give a reasonable prospect to people who have accumulated debts, who have mortgage debt they cannot pay, who are in negative equity and who face the awful prospect at some stage of losing their home of navigating and negotiating their way out of that situation. The banks will know that as a backstop, the new completely changed personal insolvency arrangement, incorporating a reduction to three years, is in place. This is radical new legislation which will provide a new basis on which people can work their way out of personal debt, including mortgage debt.

We have had a long period since the country went into recession-----

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