Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In a sense this is an empowering provision. In some circumstances it may be appropriate to charge fees. It would defeat the purpose of the legislation if individuals in major financial difficulty could not access it because there was a fee structure which created a barrier. There is no intention of any description that matters will develop that way. Although all Ministers are transient in their occupation of this particular office, I could not imagine that any of my successors would put in place a fee structure that would act as a barrier to an insolvent individual in accessing a service. I can give Senator Hayden assurances in that regard. I do not believe there is a need to amend the section in the manner she is suggesting because this speaks for itself. It is insolvency legislation and it is important that people who are truly insolvent can access the service, but it must not be forgotten that it is a service with two strands. There will be the personal insolvency practitioners and the insolvency service, which effectively is the service that will sign off on debt settlement or personal insolvency arrangements, whichever of the different structures someone succeeds in entering into.