Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Green Party also welcomes the Bill. It is apt, timely and pressingly required. A few short years ago, if I can turn back the clock prior to enactment of the 2012 legislation, which was groundbreaking for Ireland, personal debtors were in a very dark place. There was chaos. They were being pushed around and intimidated by lenders. They had nowhere to go and no place to turn. There was no civil legal aid for them. The fallout was horrendous. This scars and suffering of those families, some of whom lost homes, will always be with us. It was a dark moment for society, particularly when one considers that we let the banks of the hook. We bailed out the banks but we forgot about the private dwellers. In fairness to the Minister of the day, Alan Shatter, he brought into being a very complex Act. At the time, like many, I was involved as a proud co-founder of New Beginning, a group of lawyers, which lobbied the then Minister to bring us up to a modern European standard with a little NAMA for personal debtors.Thereafter, his successor as Minister, Frances Fitzgerald, introduced the groundbreaking section 115A, which put down a marker that banks would not get it all their own way. I am told there were a thousand of those cases last year and at least 50% were successful. These were cases where the banks refused to negotiate and had to be hauled through the courts. I would like to see the number of debt victories increase further for the personal debtor.

I will also mention a former Member of the Oireachtas, now back in the Law Library, former Deputy Willie Penrose, who did revolutionary work on the bankruptcy regime in Ireland bringing it in line with the UK. The first head of the Insolvency Service of Ireland, Mr. Lorcan O'Connor, also did mammoth work.

I welcome the fact this restores a level of fairness. Up to now arrears had to exist or pertain before 1 January 2015 but this was an unfair and restrictive threshold. I commend the Government on grasping the reality of the position, as with this legislation, we will be saving family homes. This is not fallout from the first Celtic tiger crash but rather, it involves people who through no fault of their own have suffered due to the economic downturn of the pandemic. They can at long last turn to a system that can protect them.

Heads 2 and 3 of the general scheme of the Bill are to be welcomed as they introduce remote communications meetings. It was not clear in the principal Act that these should not happen but a very learned judge taking the bankruptcy list interpreted that face-to-face meetings were essential, although that was not expressly in the Act. That was later made a rule of the High Court. This will be music to the ears of big insolvency houses, including respected houses like McCambridge Duffy in Donegal and IRS Ireland in County Waterford. Good luck to them if it is more convenient. If it is more convenient, it will be more accessible. Most of all, it will mean stressed debtors will not have to travel the length and breadth of the country to have that essential first meeting, certificate and opinion from the personal insolvency practitioner.

Head 10 of the general scheme of the Bill proposes the making of a statement of truth. It would replace the archaic affidavit or statutory declaration. Only a couple of days ago a learned judge, Judge Lambe, adjourned a matter. I am not making a criticism and she probably read it carefully but she felt her hands might have been tied by the current Act's provisions for a statutory declaration. That example from only a couple of days ago indicates the protection of debtors has been stalled due to no fault of the judge. Especially in this regime, there must be rigid interpretation of the statute.

Head 1, relating to debt relief notices, indicates the asset ceiling is rising from €400 to €1,500. This may not affect many people but is there room to push this further? This will not go to the heart of saving family homes because these are unsecured debts but why has this stopped at €1,500 and not a greater sum?

I know personal insolvency practitioners throughout Ireland would like to see section 91(1)(a) of the principal Act removed as to qualify for a personal insolvency arrangement, the aggregate of the debt of the debtors that are secured must be less than €3 million. This will not be considered by the Seanad today but has the Minister and Department formed a view on this? The reality is that receivers are supposed to receive a property to sell it and not become accidental short to medium-term landlords.However, the reality on the ground is that receivers, for one reason or another - sometimes it is due to an asset becoming inadvertently lost while at others it is a protracted matter in the court - do not sell on the debt and there is a ratcheting up of the fees the receivers charge for holding these assets. They do not sell them promptly. In other cases, one secured aspect of the debt can survive and that holds the debtor over a barrel and he or she cannot access this wonderful protective legislation. I only care about the family home and that is what this addresses more than anywhere else in Europe. We have the pre-eminent position of the private dwelling in the Constitution and that is reflected in this legislation. I welcome that.

I emphasise that this system is for everyone, regardless of whether one is famous or not famous, unpopular with the media, known, unknown, a known unknown or whatever. The judges do not judge if a person is a celebrity. Everyone has equal access to the law but, at the moment, lenders do not contract out. If all lenders for secured debt contracted out, the threshold of less than €3 million would not apply but that is not the case at the moment.

A further reality is that it is outside the control of the debtor because the debtor has long since lost control of the asset but cannot seek refuge within the threshold of the €3 million at the moment. There are reports from PIPs that the Minister of State is considering legislation in that respect, hopefully later this year.

I can safely say that all Senators will agree that everyone is equal before the law. The mechanisms we apply and the protections we provide for debtors must be fair, transparent and equitable and this Bill goes a long way to making personal insolvency protections more accessible and readily available to more people. I unreservedly welcome the Bill and congratulate the Minister of State. I ask him to pass on to the senior Minister the wishes of the Green Party. We wish her the best of luck and happiness.