Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 200: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the persons who will approve debt settlement arrangements under the new Personal Insolvency Bill, and in the event that a debt settlement arrangement is not approved, the recourse the debtor or trustee have open to them to appeal the decision and to whom do they appeal. [10073/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Personal Insolvency Bill, the Heads of which I published on 25 January 2012, introduces a number of new non-judicial debt settlement systems. The Debt Settlement Arrangement (DSA) provides for a system of debt settlement between a debtor and two or more creditors to repay an amount of unsecured consumer type debt only (of €20,001 and over) over a set period.

With the required assistance of a personal insolvency trustee, the debtor may apply to the Insolvency Service for a Protective Certificate in respect of preparation of a DSA. If granted, the Certificate would provide for a standstill period of 30 days during which creditors may not take action against the debtor. The trustee would then put forward a DSA to creditors for agreement. The DSA requires the approval of 65% in value of qualifying creditors and, if approved, is binding on all creditors. If approved, the Insolvency Service would provide formal registration of the DSA. At the satisfactory conclusion of the DSA all debts covered by it would be discharged. The Insolvency Service will have no role in the negotiation and agreement of a DSA. (Similar systems operate in the UK, Northern Ireland and Australia).

If the creditors do not agree to the DSA, then the arrangement fails and the creditors can seek enforcement of the debt through other means.