Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is unreasonable to talk about somebody with debts of only ¤20,000, who might have a ¤50,000 Mercedes car and ¤300,000 in the bank, looking for a debt relief notice. This is unreal and we need to bring some reality into this. The Minister and his party colleagues do not seem to be in touch with real life and with the sort of people I meet in my clinics - I hope the Minister meets similar people - who may well benefit from this legislation. They do not have a ¤50,000 Mercedes car or assets such as ¤300,000 in the bank that they can allocate to the child's education. This is real life and these are broken people who are struggling and have no hope. The attitude shown by the Minister will not give them any hope. It will depress them to find that he does not seem to know how such people lead their lives. They do not have a Mercedes car and do not have ¤300,000 in the bank.