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

I will try to dissuade the Senator. I know the amendment is well intended but I am not sure of its relevance in these circumstances. For example, I am not sure what effect the proposed additional qualification with regard to the market value of an asset or the deletion of "irrespective" in dealing with a mortgage or charge is designed to achieve in the context of a debt relief notice. I remind the Senator that this seems to be directed at the debt relief notice.

The current description is quite clear in that it encapsulates market value irrespective of whether the asset in question is subject to any charge. In any event, where the permitted qualifying asset level in this process is ¤400, apart from the excluded assets, I am not sure this issue is a significant consideration. To make the changes proposed by the Senators would completely alter the nature of the debt relief notice process and potentially qualify an applicant even where he or she had a large property in negative equity. That is not the intention of the debt relief notice, which is far more confined.