Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State here today and wish everyone Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona. I almost forgot that St. Patrick's Day will be next week.

I support this Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill and the amendments. As the Minister of State mentioned, it is a priority Bill to reform the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 and the Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Act 2015 to support people facing personal debt. When we are talking about personal debt it could be people simply facing credit card debt as well as those facing mortgage debt. The Bill is to support people with all levels of debt.

I welcome that the Bill will support people in a time of immense stress and anxiety as a result of the pandemic. One aspect I particularly welcome in this Bill is the debt relief notice. If someone has debts amounting to less than €35,000 and a low number of disposable assets, the asset amount that can be considered is increased from €400 to €1,500, which is phenomenal. Many of the support agencies see that as an important measure.This allows more people to be eligible to apply for this debt relief notice. As I mentioned, this could be for people with debts less than €35,000, so, therefore, for a lower amount of debt.

The option is there as well to apply to court if creditors refuse to accept the arrangement. I know that the Minister of State has suggested here also to extend the time to apply to court from 14 to 28 days. This is in the case where creditors have unreasonably refused personal insolvency arrangements.

Another really key point is that mortgages which go into arrears after 2015 can now be eligible. This is so important, particularly for people who have lost their jobs in the recent past, particularly those at the lower socioeconomic level. We can see that there are more women who have lost jobs in this category. Families and particular groups are struggling.

I also welcome the debt settlement arrangement and the protective certificate that can be extended for up to 40 days and also to the bringing in of remote working. We are seeing this happening everywhere. It is also important to bring it into legislation to allow personal insolvency practitioners to be able to meet with their debtors.

The goal of these personal insolvency measures is to protect people and that is what we need to do. That is what we have been doing with emergency priority legislation over the past number of months and what I have seen since I have come here to the House.

One thing I would like to advise and to remind people of is that the Money Advice & Budgeting Service, MABS, is a key support and a crucial service that supports people in managing their budgets. It is free, confidential and it is worth noting that there are 60 offices around Ireland and that people can call, email, log in and do a live-chat.

There are many supports out there and people should not feel that they are on their own when dealing with debt and with difficult circumstances. People should know that there are people to talk to, where they can get advice and that it is independent and confidential. I thank the Minister of State and very much welcome the amendments in this Bill.