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

The legislation envisages it as an annual review of what are reasonable expenses. The reality is it will be open to the insolvency service to consult as it deems appropriate and to consider a range of reports and publications that address this issue, as well as consulting with particular Departments. I do not expect it will be appropriate that on an annual basis the insolvency service will engage in some major public consultative process. It must have regard to all the expertise and statistical and financial information available.

When it comes to reasonable living expenses, guidelines will ultimately be published. In dealing with the individual circumstances of a seriously indebted person, the arrangement put in place will depend on particular issues relevant to the individual that must be taken into account. There will not be a set formula resulting in a set sum as applicable to every individual. There will be much variance in that regard.

I have no doubt the service will have regard to the expertise of the Money Advice and Budgeting Service and the manner in which it approaches this issue. I do not envisage an annual public consultative process but the director of the insolvency service would have sufficient expertise to engage in this process. When the guidelines are published, the service will be the body to which each non-judicial debt settlement will be furnished for oversight essentially to sign off on to ensure issues are being dealt with appropriately. When it comes to experience, I am sure the service will have insight into what arrangements are put in place with regard to the expenditure of different people. I expect that would feed into any annual review of reasonable living expenses. It will deal with real people in real debt in the context of a real debt settlement arrangement. Over a period, the service will develop its internal expertise in the area and may well identify issues that repeatedly arise that may not be covered with the first set of published guidelines. There is adequate discretion invested in the insolvency service to ensure that in putting these guidelines on reasonable living expenses in place, it will have available the maximum information.

For the reasons I previously outlined, I cannot accept Deputy Mac Lochlainn's amendments. We have added substantially to the provisions of the Bill as originally published. I am of the view that these additions cover everything about which Deputy Mac Lochlainn is anxious as it is open to the agency to access any source material that is of assistance in addressing the issues. In the circumstances I cannot accept the amendments being tabled.

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