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

I will deal, first, with the car. We have adopted what I would describe as a united Ireland approach. In Northern Ireland the amount is £1,000 sterling for a process similar to the debt relief notice; ¤1,200 is practically the same, based on current currency arrangements in this jurisdiction. Sinn Féin regards ¤1,200 as acceptable in Northern Ireland but wants ¤3,000 in the Republic of Ireland. There must be a relationship. There is no monopoly of wisdom on the issue. It is difficult. We are excluding the value of certain assets being taken into account to facilitate a person writing off up to ¤20,000 worth of debt. There is not another better way of dealing with it. I appreciate that Senator Cullinane has suggested ¤3,000 but there has to be some relationship between what we are doing and what is happening on the other side of the island that recognises that individuals are writing off a large amount of debt and are free of that debt. I cannot accept Senator Cullinane's amendment but at least it is better thought out than the Fianna Fáil amendment which implies that, irrespective of the value of one's car, one can retain it. If one is living in rental accommodation and does not own a home but has a Mercedes or a BMW worth ¤50,000, a debt of ¤20,000 and has lost one's job, based on the Fianna Fáil approach to life, one can retain the Mercedes worth ¤50,000, and to hell with the creditors.