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

These amendments relate to the organisation, functions and governance of the insolvency service itself. In operating the new debt relief notice, debt settlement arrangement and the personal insolvency arrangement, the insolvency service will, for maximum effectiveness and efficiency, operate on a paperless basis to the greatest extent possible with electronic completion and transmission of documents. The court involved will also receive and issue documents by electronic means in order to facilitate the efficient deployment of staff in court time.

Amendment No. 2 inserts a definition of electronic means. The definition is required as a result of the proposed new section 23 at amendment No. 24, which provides for the insolvency service to communicate by electronic means. It is designed to facilitate the processing of documents by the insolvency service and the courts service in regard to applications for the various debt resolution arrangements provided for in the Bill.

Amendment No. 12 deletes section 8(2)(b) and (c), as they are not necessary for the purpose of the operation of the insolvency service as it will not be owning or holding property in its own name. The OPW will be effectively making the necessary office accommodation arrangements for the service. Amendment No. 13 is intended to make it clear that it should be the director of the service, rather than the insolvency service itself, who authorises a person to enter into contracts on behalf of the insolvency service.

Amendment No. 14 improves and extends the functions of the insolvency service by now including a reference to use of the reasonable expenses guidelines and to education and training. Amendment No. 15 provides for the term of office of the director of the insolvency service. Amendment No. 16 addresses the current wording of section 11(3), which may not fully reflect the reporting relationship within the insolvency service in regard to who will make the policies and decisions of the service the director will implement. I am advised that subsection (3)(a) is not required in the context of the insolvency service and accordingly should be deleted.

Amendment No. 17 amends the text of subsection (11)(a) to delete the reference to disqualification, which is not appropriate in this particular context. Amendment No.18 makes it clear that the five-year tenure of the first director of the insolvency service, where he was previously appointed as director designate, commences on the date of his initial appointment to the director designate post and not on the establishment date of the service. The Bill, as passed by the Dáil, does not adequately deal with this particular matter.

Amendment No. 19 seeks to replace the existing section 15 of the Bill relating to a business plan, with new text. The proposed new text retains the requirement for the service to submit its business plans to the Minister for approval every year. However, it removes the current requirement in the Bill for the business plans to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. Having reviewed the matter, I believe this latter onerous requirement is not particularly necessary. The proposed amendment brings the insolvency service more in line with governance provisions of other similar entities.

It is important to note, however, that the proposed amendment does not in any way diminish the accountability provisions of the service to the Oireachtas. These are contained in the provisions of the Bill regarding strategic planning which is in section 14, reporting in section 16, accounts and auditing in section 17, and appearances before Oireachtas committees in sections 18 and 19. In practice, for example, the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality would be entitled to invite the director of the service to appear before it to discuss any issue that fell within the ambit of the insolvency service. That obviously would be done in a general way, if it saw fit - not about a particular individual's personal insolvency which clearly would not be appropriate as a focus for an Oireachtas committee's discussion. I can envisage a range of issues which could arise on general policy as well as the agency's capacity to undertake its tasks.

Amendment No. 20 is a technical drafting amendment. It makes clear that the report referred to in subsection (6) is the annual report of the insolvency service which is to be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas. Amendment No. 21 proposes the insertion of a new subsection (8) and is linked to the previous amendment to subsection (6). The purpose of section 16 is to make provision for the preparation of reports by the insolvency service to the Minister.

The provision as currently drafted permits the preparation of reports on a number of matters and is not limited to the preparation of annual reports. The current construction would have the effect that every single report prepared by the insolvency service, even on a very minor matter, would be required to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. The new subsection (8) seeks to improve on the current text by giving the Minister the discretion to decide whether reports prepared by the service under the provisions of subsection (3) are to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and published. Finally, amendment No. 22 is a technical drafting amendment required to improve the presentation of the text. It now refers to "a committee" rather than to "the committee".

See this speech in context