Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To respond to Deputy Mac Lochlainn, the Personal Insolvency Act does not provide for a veto. This claim has been repeated time and again. The legislation provides for arrangements where creditors vote.

If, however, it drifts into bankruptcy, where it will go if there is no arrangement, solutions are imposed.

Deputy McGrath and his party have been looking for independence in the application of solutions. The Central Bank is independent and the new insolvency agency is independent also. It is not the Department of Finance that will be making the arrangements. They will be monitored by the Central Bank and, when things go down the legal route through the insolvency legislation, the insolvency service of Ireland under its director will sign off on the arrangements to be made.

Deputy McGrath asked about targets. The targets highlighted were percentages of offers of solutions. On the same day, Mr. Elderfield also said that, in parallel with the targets for solutions offered, he would set targets for concluding arrangements. He is on the record as having said that.

Deputy Twomey spoke about sustainability of income and keeping the family home. Every case will be dealt with separately. While cases can be put in different groups and there are several categories of cases, the director of insolvency is now drawing up guidelines as to what would be a satisfactory family income, after the arrangement. It is now built into the insolvency arrangements that they will be sufficient for a family to live on after whatever arrangement is put in place to suit their needs. In some cases people might rather hand back the keys. I have heard that said. In some cases getting out of a bad situation might be the way forward, but I am not advocating that.

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