Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)

With the permission of the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I wish to share my time with Deputy Alex White.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this long-awaited legislation. While the Bill is a complex item of law, it has the ability to change the lives of many citizens for the better in a way other Bills cannot. If Members make this Bill as good as it can be, it has the potential to help families sleep at night. This is one of the recurring themes to come up each time I canvass or speak to people in my constituency of Meath East. Many people are afraid they will lose their homes or personal property because of debt and this is a huge concern nationwide. Such debt can range from a credit union loan to credit card debt to large negative equity mortgages. People ask me what the Government will do about it and when will the Government do something to help them out. I believe this Bill will help to do something positive for them. It will give people a way of dealing with their debt, which they have not had the opportunity to do heretofore. Each settlement arrangement enables the debtor to go through a step-by-step process that can result in him or her coming to an agreement with his or her creditors to pay off the outstanding debts over a longer period and this is to be welcomed.

However, I have some concerns in that some steps that must be taken will be extremely complicated, which is regrettable because it is essential to make this process as easy as possible for everyone to use and understand. People who are already facing serious levels of debt have enough to be getting on with without additional stress and pressure from trying to work out precisely how they should work their way through this system. As all Members are aware from their experience of helping people through the difficult, archaic social welfare system, complicated systems only add to people's frustration and sense of despair. This new legislation provides the opportunity to develop a system that will not do this but will help people in a sensible, coherent and easily understandable way. Let a system be created that is easy to use, fair and transparent for all to see and the mistakes that have been made in the administration of some social welfare schemes should not be recreated.

Another issue that has been raised with me is the possibility of people who acted as mortgages brokers during the boom times now being hired to act as the intermediaries between the insolvency service and debtors. This possibility was first reported in a Sunday newspaper many months ago and from speaking to people afterwards, I am aware it was greeted with mixed feelings. I remember one of the first cases I dealt with after being elected was for constituents who approached me about their mortgage debt problem. They were given a mortgage ten times their salary to buy a house in Ashbourne and are now in serious trouble trying to make ends meet and trying to keep up with their repayments, while at the same time trying to maintain a decent standard of living. While this Bill hopefully will help them, the situation is an example of the reckless lending that has led to the urgent need for this legislation in the first place.

People must trust this new service and if they think the people running it are the same individuals who recklessly lent them money five years ago, the Government might have a problem in gaining the public's trust on this issue. This is a point on which I wish to expand on further. The public must have faith and trust in this measure. They must trust that it will help them in a fair and equitable manner. While a new service can be created, were the first few cases to go through it not to be dealt with appropriately and fairly, the danger would be the people's trust would not be gained in the first instance. As Members do not wish to create a folly, it is incredibly important to listen to the concerns of groups and individuals who are making comments on the settlement process at present in respect of what are the potential problems and how it could be made better. They must be listened to and their concerns must be taken into account and responded to through the Committee State debate. Moreover, Member should make changes to the legislation when so doing would make it better. It has been stated by many that this Bill is the most radical solution to personal debt that has been tried by a country. If this is the case, Members must make sure it is easy to access for those who need it. If they can manage that, they can give people the opportunity to get back on their feet in order to move forward with their lives.

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