Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

No one wants any individual to be in the circumstances in which he or she needs to use the debt relief notice mechanism in the first instance. Sadly, however, Members know that many people may need to resort to it. I must maintain a responsible balance between debtors and creditors. The media's concept of a creditor is of an evil financial institution that forced people to take money, that the people gave no thought to it but simply took the money and now this evil financial institution wants to ruin them. That cannot be an issue with a debt relief notice, no matter how much anyone tries to make it so, because of what is involved with a debt relief notice. No doubt Members will come again to deal with the financial institutions and the personal insolvency arrangements. I am highly conscious of the need to facilitate people to preserve a sense of personal dignity. I also am conscious that any type of ring or piece of jewellery can have emotional significance. Something that cost €20 can have, because of the circumstances in which it was purchased, emotional significance, as can something that cost €200,000. The question is: What is reasonable when one is dealing with people of limited assets and limited income with debts of €20,000 or less and creditors, who through no fault of theirs, are owed that money? As for the creditors, I keep reverting to the point that all Members have them in their constituencies and that a lot of work is done by volunteers to the benefit of local communities in credit unions. At what point does one tell someone he or she has an asset that must be used to pay back a debt to a credit union that operates for the benefit of the extended community or to what extent should the extended community and the credit union fund someone's wish to retain assets and not pay debt?

I am willing to reflect on Deputy Donnelly's suggestion, whereby one is talking about a single item of jewellery of what I describe as emotional significance, not necessarily ceremonial significance. It may be a modest ring someone has inherited from a deceased grandmother or mother. It may not be ceremonial but it may indeed be emotional. I am willing to give some thought to this at the sort of value level Deputy Donnelly is suggesting. However, I ask other Deputies what value levels they are talking about. I am interested in this from a human perspective, not from a political perspective. Were discretion given to the Minister and were I to make a regulation that specified €500, within approximately half an hour Deputy Niall Collins would have released a statement accusing me of being mean and parsimonious and demanding it should be €1,000. Deputies should indicate what values they are talking about.

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