Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The main legislative response of Government to the crisis of personal indebtedness and mortgage arrears is the personal insolvency Bill, the heads of which were published in January, and it has since been considered by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality. I want to focus on one of the three instruments in that Bill, the instrument dealing with secured debt such as mortgages, that is, the personal solvency arrangements. The Minister co-sponsored this Bill with the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, and I want to ask him how it will work in practice and what he sees as the benefits of this arrangement for distressed mortgage holders. For those who are in mortgage arrears whose income is not sufficient to meet their obligations, can the provisions of this Bill result in a reduction of the mortgage debt as a result of a personal insolvency arrangement? Can the Minister outline what the benefits of such an arrangement could be for distressed mortgage holders?

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