Results 601-620 of 2,017 for speaker:Paul Bradford

Seanad: Personal Insolvency Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Dec 2012)

Paul Bradford: This debate is interesting and the contributions are following on from what was discussed on Second Stage. It all relates to the question of the responsibility of the debtor, in so far as possible, to pay his or her debts and the responsibility of creditors, the State and its agencies to be fair. Perhaps we should not be asking whether we should be chasing after the bankruptcy laws of the...

Seanad: Personal Insolvency Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Dec 2012)

Paul Bradford: The section provides that 65% of creditors can agree to their treatment in a scheme of arrangements. It has been suggested to me that where a debtor waives his or her qualifying threshold of, say ¤3 million, that it would require a 100% level of support from secured creditors. It was also suggested to me that a creditor refusing to agree to a personal insolvency agreement suggested by a...

Seanad: Personal Insolvency Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (30 Nov 2012)

Paul Bradford: I agree with Senator Bacik. In the Minister's work between now and Report Stage, perhaps he can consider a provision to protect jewellery or an item of family significance. We could write into law that the item could not be disposed of during the period of the financial arrangement if it is of sentimental or emotional value to the person or the family. I am not sure who came up with the...

Seanad: Personal Insolvency Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (30 Nov 2012)

Paul Bradford: I fear they could confirm that a ring worth ¤500 might not go down too well.

Seanad: Personal Insolvency Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (30 Nov 2012)

Paul Bradford: We have time between now and Report Stage to reflect and come back with a compromise. This portion of the debate in the other House got more media coverage than the more pertinent point of the legislation. Let us try to get this away from the media and into law as soon as we can.

Seanad: Personal Insolvency Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (30 Nov 2012)

Paul Bradford: I suspect the amendments will not be accepted. There is an aspect of the debt relief notice to which we should give some consideration. Given the ¤20,000 limit, personal insolvency practitioners will almost certainly be excluded from any dealings with the category of people involved. As the sum of money is modest, there is no possibility of any money being available to remunerate a...

Seanad: Personal Insolvency Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (30 Nov 2012)

Paul Bradford: I welcome the Minister's amendments. I also appreciate what Senators Zappone and Cullinane have said. They present an interesting debate. As the Minister said, there is always a creditor and a debtor. For every person who owes ¤1,000 or ¤10,000, possibly to a small shop, local supplier or small builder or garage, someone else down the chain is also owed money. We have a responsibility...

Seanad: Personal Insolvency Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (30 Nov 2012)

Paul Bradford: We have read that the insolvency service will consist of a director, members of staff, etc. Has any consideration been given to the concept of having a board support structure along with the service? Would it be useful or helpful to have a board structure where there could be a broader range of interests as part of the consideration of policy? Most people would feel we have not had the...

Seanad: Europol Bill 2012: Second Stage (29 Nov 2012)

Paul Bradford: Next Tuesday.

Seanad: Europol Bill 2012: Second Stage (29 Nov 2012)

Paul Bradford: Indeed, there are certainly a few political Klingons, but the Senator is coming our way and need not worry. Obviously, cybercrime must be tackled with modern resources and I welcome the progress that will be made in that regard. The data protection side of the issue will cause a certain amount of concern to a number of persons. Data protection is a sensitive area. All of us would like to...

Seanad: Europol Bill 2012: Second Stage (29 Nov 2012)

Paul Bradford: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, and I welcome the Bill. I trust she will be sufficiently robust to deal with the situation as outlined by Senator O'Donovan. As I listened to the Senator giving us a lovely meandering geographical tour from eyes in the sky to the dairy farms of west County Cork to the Garda station in Bandon and on to the bays of west County Cork, I...

Seanad: Personal Insolvency Bill 2012: Committee Stage (29 Nov 2012)

Paul Bradford: We look forward to seeing Senator Daly at 10 a.m. tomorrow when this Bill will resume.

Seanad: Business of Seanad (29 Nov 2012)

Paul Bradford: I am proposing an amendment to the Order of Business, that No. 4, motion re the Credit Institutions (Eligible Liabilities Guarantee)(Amendment) Scheme 2012 be taken at 2.15 p.m. to conclude no later than 3.15 p.m., with contributions of spokespersons not to exceed six minutes and all other Senators not to exceed three minutes and the Minister to reply no later than 3.10 p.m., and that the...

Seanad: Personal Insolvency Bill 2012: Committee Stage (29 Nov 2012)

Paul Bradford: What Senator Norris said in conclusion is exactly what I had intended to say. Where persons enter into these arrangements, it is a sign of their intent to keep their financial house in order in so far as they can. It is strong proof that these people are responsible citizens. Although they have fallen on difficult financial times, they wish to resolve matters to everybody's satisfaction....

Seanad: Personal Insolvency Bill 2012: Committee Stage (29 Nov 2012)

Paul Bradford: If there was a word or fact checker in the House, it would be found that the words "unscrupulous" and "employers" are generally linked in Senator Cullinane's lexicon. I do not believe there are many of them. It is more, rather than fewer, employers that are needed in this country. I appreciate the sentiments expressed by Senator Norris and Senator Barrett, but I am not sure if the...

Seanad: Personal Insolvency Bill 2012: Committee Stage (29 Nov 2012)

Paul Bradford: I thank the Minister for his contributions to date and I agree with the point made by Senator Norris. I am satisfied with the attempt to define excludable and excluded. At present, there is flexibility at local authority level on rates. While debts cannot be written off from a legal perspective, a council may decide not to seek payment of rates. Section 2(1)(g) refers to the Social...

Seanad: Personal Insolvency Bill 2012: Committee Stage (29 Nov 2012)

Paul Bradford: In full.

Seanad: Personal Insolvency Bill 2012: Committee Stage (29 Nov 2012)

Paul Bradford: We have points of order and information but I have a point of suggestion. It is useful when a Minister comes in on Second Stage with a substantive contribution that we have a copy of the script. Perhaps as we work through the Bill and when there are other groupings of amendments with fairly detailed changes, it would be helpful to provide a note. We have gone through seven or eight very...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Approval for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council: Motion (28 Nov 2012)

Paul Bradford: I welcome the Minister of State and thank her for her contribution. We welcome the proposal. Is the Minister of State in a position to provide a broad indication of the amount of money involved? We welcome the increase in support from the European Union, but how large will be the budgets in this regard? Has a determination been made on what will be the Irish contribution?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Approval for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council: Motion (28 Nov 2012)

Paul Bradford: Was the amount to which the Minister of State referred - between €1.2 million and €1.4 million - the Irish contribution?