Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As I have said on a number of occasions, I do not believe people in mortgage arrears should have to go bankrupt in order to have their indebtedness dealt with and to have a restructuring of their mortgage agreed. We need to separate both issues - mortgage arrears and the decision whether or not to reduce the bankruptcy discharge period further. People whose main debt is a mortgage on the family home should not have to go bankrupt. Let us be honest about it, they should not have to go bankrupt to have that situation dealt with. I welcome the Minister's comments in that regard.

The debate on reducing the discharge period has been gaining some momentum, yet the Minister seems to be pouring cold water on it. It would appear from what the Minister has said that no decision is imminent from the Government in favour of a reduction in the discharge period. The fact that 70% of those who went bankrupt in 2014 have lost, or are expected to lose, their family home as part of the discharge of their bankruptcy, is a sobering statistic. People who are advocating a reduction in the discharge period as a measure for dealing with mortgage arrears should bear that statistic in mind.

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