Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

In my question I appealed to the Minister not to list off these points by rote, and that is exactly what he has done. He has not said what the Government will do to solve the problems of the 30,000 families who cannot access insolvency services. I thought it might be third time lucky today and I might have got an answer from the Government. I have an example of a family whose income is €80 over the Insolvency Service of Ireland's monthly basic living needs. The cost to that family of employing a personal insolvency practitioner, PIP, for entering the debt settlement arrangement is €6,888 with a €1,230 up-front payment. That family cannot afford to go into that insolvency service arrangement.

Many families do not even have that extra €80, they are on the living allowance line, and they cannot access the service. What will the Government do for these people? Has the Government created a bankruptcy regime and insolvency legislation for the Seán Fitzpatricks of this world while the ordinary householders whose income has been decimated by the crash can swing in the wind? Is the Government going to continue a policy of insolvency apartheid?

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