Results 7,801-7,820 of 36,188 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I welcome the witnesses. I will start with a quote. It relates to what Mr. O'Connor said in his presentation about the intention of the agency and the Government to keep this legislation under review. Indeed, it is a commitment that was given last year when some of us believed that the banks would use the veto with the personal insolvency service. We hear that two of the largest banks in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: That may be the fact but the reality is that the Oireachtas passed legislation which allowed for PIAs. If a bank is saying it is going to torpedo every proposal that recommends a secured debt write-down, there is a serious issue. Debtors may have the option of bankruptcy, and we will discuss that shortly, but we have heard the chief executive officer of a bank that has been saved by the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: If Bank of Ireland was one of the main creditors and was able to enact its veto, why would a PIP put forward a proposal that included a debt write-down, given that the PIP knows that the policy of Bank of Ireland at the most senior level is to veto that application?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Earlier Mr. O'Connor gave an example of a house valued at €300,000 or one with a mortgage of €300,000 but valued at €100,000. A PIP proposal would see the bank recoup €200,000, so it is in the bank's interest to support the proposal. I will outline a missing element. The banks know that if a debtor or person in his or her family home takes the bankruptcy route,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Has Mr. O'Connor called Richie Boucher? Has anybody from the office engaged with his bank to see if he is genuine about torpedoing every proposal? Has the service adopted a wait-and-see approach?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: The Government, in launching the service, suggested that 18,000 people would access it in the first 12 months. I am sure the Government did not pluck the figure out of the air, but it must be deeply disappointed about the uptake. Is one of the reasons for the slow uptake the convoluted route to acquire a protected certificate and the onerous mechanism involved? Does the system need to be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I may come back to the matter later. With regard to inheritance or windfalls for someone who is in an arrangement, what is the agency's position regarding drawing down or taking a portion of the money? Is it 100% above a certain value? What rule does the agency operate for same?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Can the Chairman inform me how much time I have left?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I asked about inheritance and windfalls.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Later I will return to the inheritance issue, because Mr. O'Connor has not really answered my question on whether the sum is 100% over a certain value. I hope we will get it the second time around. With regard to bankruptcy figures, let me take out the people who did not have a family home in the first place. That means that out of 54 cases in 2014, only 16 of them who are still in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I appreciate Mr. Lehane's comment, and I am sorry to interrupt him, but I must ask a specific question because I have just gone beyond my time. If they are not able to come out of default, what happens the family home?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Only 16 people of the 54 bankruptcy cases this year are secure in their family home. Let us look at last year's figures.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I refer to the 16 people who are not in default and who have family homes out of the original 54 bankruptcy cases this year. The 16 people are secure in their family homes at this point in time. Let us look at 2011 figures.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Let us compare the figures for 2011 with 2013, which is more historical. Out of the 86 with family homes who went into bankruptcy, only 25 are secure in their family homes. The other ten are in default. Either way, two thirds of them have lost their family homes through voluntary surrender or otherwise.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Mr. Lehane mentioned the transfer of half of the asset that lies in the office of the ISI to the spouse and the fee of €5,000. I do not understand it so I will present an example as I think it is and the witnesses can tell me where I am wrong. If I am a husband and my wife has gone bankrupt and our mortgage is €300,000, the ISI holds half of the family home, but I am still...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I will ask Mr. Lehane a number of questions. If someone is bankrupt and his or her mortgage lender instigates repossession proceedings against him or her, what does Mr. Lehane's office do? Does it halt the proceedings for a repossession order? If a bankrupt's mortgage repayments were in excess of what it would cost to rent a similar sized house in the locality, would Mr. Lehane approve the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I am glad for that clarification. I assumed that was the answer - that a bank seeking repossession or, as Mr. Lehane would call it, possession, cannot be halted by his office.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: That is clear. It is important that the public know that as well, because other impressions have been given. On the rent comparative to the mortgage repayments that would be made, we all will be aware of borrowers who have high mortgage repayments and need to pay them before they retire because the way the bank looks at it is that it has to be paid on or before retirement or it will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: It is above and beyond. I thank Mr. Lehane.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (Resumed): Insolvency Service of Ireland (30 Apr 2014)

Pearse Doherty: No guidelines are given to personal insolvency practitioners as to what happens with inheritance above a certain level.