Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to seek clarification on this limit of €20,000. We will probably have the same discussion when we come to the limit of €3 million for personal insolvency arrangements. Apart from MABS and the experience in the North of Ireland, what else has informed the Minister's thinking in arriving at the figure of €20,000? That is what we are trying to elicit. It would be helpful if we knew what had informed the Minister in arriving at that figure. It is fine to compare this jurisdiction with the North of Ireland but the level of personal indebtedness there is not the same as it is here. The critical mass of people who find themselves smothered with personal debt issues is not the same there either. Apart from what MABS is saying and what is happening in the other jurisdiction, what other analysis or thinking informed the figure of €20,000?

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