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

The purpose of this amendment to section 27 of the 2012 Act is to clarify the roles of the approved intermediary, the insolvency service, during the debt relief notice process. The proposed amendment to subsection (10) ensures there is no confusion for debtors as to what agency, the service, the insolvency service or the approved intermediary, they are meant to be dealing with over the course of the three year supervision period which begins after a debt relief notice has been issued. Any such confusion could cause problems with notifying the insolvency service about changes in the debtor's circumstances or the debtor making payments to creditors.

This change will ensure that the debtor is not needlessly engaging an approved intermediary after the debt relief notice is issued as the approved intermediary has no further the role after this point. It ensures there is no confusion for the debtor who should at this stage be dealing with the insolvency service directly. The proposed amendment to subsection (11) improves on the existing text to make it clearer which creditors are being referred to and the period to which the provisions relate. The proposed amendment to subsection (12) is a technical amendment to improve the text.