Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Act 2015 introduced key protections for insolvent homeowners struggling to pay off their arrears. It has allowed them the right to seek a court review if their mortgage lenders or creditors refuse reasonable proposals for personal insolvency arrangements. The success of this Act has gone beyond insolvent individuals struggling to repay the mortgages on their homes to include in some cases farming families who are in financial difficulty with their land. I very much welcome the adaptation of this key legislation by the courts.

A number of months ago I attended a webinar organised by the ICMSA at which a personal insolvency practitioner spoke of how this legislation is being successfully used to protect the farm family from repossession and for appropriate debt settlements to be reached. However, this very useful legislation, which can protect the family home, family farm, farm business and livelihood of a farm family, is only accessible when both the principal primary residence and the family home is included in the debt with the land. We must act to amend this legislation to allow the family farm to be included in the personal insolvency process, regardless of whether the principal primary residence is affected by the debt. If the land alone is used for security for a loan or mortgage, there is a strong case to be made for the personal insolvency process to be extended to include this instance. I ask the Minister of State to take this on board and amend the Personal Insolvency Act to allow access to the personal insolvency process for insolvent individuals who are farm land-indebted and not only in instances in which the family home is also included in the security for the loan. This would open up the protections of the Personal Insolvency Act to even more worthy individuals and families. It would ensure that the family farm is not repossessed and sold off by the banks. It would allow for a debt resolution process that does not mean farmers have to lose their entire livelihoods to settle their debts, which results only in further financial hardships.

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