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

The Senator is correct that in cases where creditors are worth above ¤3 million, they must agree to go above that threshold. I will have another look at that but it comes back to the issue that we discussed earlier that there was a real case for not having a threshold at all because this is about debt resolution. Accordingly, it is not about letting someone off but about creating a structure which will facilitate more of the debt being discharged over time than would occur if an individual went into bankruptcy and the individual benefiting from the possibility of retaining a modest home in which they are living. I will examine this issue further. However, I am not sure that we can in circumstances where the limit is ¤3 million force an individual creditor to agree the limit should be waived. This has to be done by mutual consent on all sides. To change that, we would have to bring the limit up further. Otherwise, it would be very arbitrary.

The provisions of this section are quite complex. We are looking at it with the Parliamentary Counsel to see if it might be drafted in plainer language for Report Stage. I do not know if that will be achievable but we will be looking at it.