Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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543. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí that have sought advice on insolvency arrangements; the number of gardaí who have availed of the personal insolvency arrangements since 2010; if gardaí are allowed to avail of the personal insolvency regime here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7503/14]

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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544. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the procedures or guidelines that have been put in place to assist gardaí who are in financial difficultly and require assistance under the personal insolvency legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7504/14]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 543 and 544 together.

I should first explain to the Deputy that the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI) was not in operation in 2010; it began accepting applications for the new debt settlement arrangements under the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 on 9 September 2013. As I have advised the Deputy previously, the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI) has indicated that in the interest of confidentiality it will not be providing details or breakdowns of the numbers of applications for the various debt solutions received or being processed at this time. The ISI has indicated that it fully intends to provide quarterly statistics once a statistically meaningful number of applications have been processed. This is anticipated to be in the second quarter of 2014. The ISI has advised that it will not be publishing information in relation to the occupations of applicants for the various debt settlement solutions.

It should be noted that the ISI does not provide advice on insolvency arrangements, this is a function of Personal Insolvency Practitioners and Approved Intermediaries and therefore the number of Gardaí that may have sought advice on insolvency arrangements is unknown. I can advise, however, that the Garda Síochána Discipline Regulations have been updated on a number of occasions since 1923, most recently in 2007. There is nothing in these Regulations, the Garda Code nor indeed in the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 which acts as a barrier to members of the Garda Síochána availing of debt resolution mechanisms contained in that Act. The Commissioner has made it clear that members of An Garda Síochána who are in financial difficulties with domestic mortgage repayments in providing a home for themselves or their families will not be subjected to the Garda Síochána (Discipline) Regulations provided there is a genuine effort to deal with these financial difficulties. I fully agree with the Commissioner on this point.