Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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562. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if there is a legal requirement on personal insolvency practitioners to charge a set fee to clients; the amount of the fee; if PIPs are allowed to set their own scale of fees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18883/14]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI) has no regulatory power over the level of fees that a Personal Insolvency Practitioner may charge; therefore it does not prescribe the Practitioner’s fees.

Fees are negotiated by the Practitioner with the debtor on a case by case basis in advance of a case proceeding and those fees are deducted from the amount of money an individual debtor is calculated as having available to pay their creditors during the term of the arrangement.

Regulation 15 of S.I. No. 209 of 2013 - the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 (Authorisation and Supervision of Personal Insolvency Practitioners) Regulations 2013 - provides that a Personal Insolvency Practitioner may charge fees for all work done by him or her at any time in performing his or her functions under the Personal Insolvency Act 2012, as amended.

Prior to a Practitioner's appointment, he or she must, in accordance with section 49 of the Act, provide information in writing to the debtor relating to the fee arrangement and other conditions of appointment. Accordingly, all fees should be clearly set out by the practitioner prior to appointment.

There are currently over 130 Practitioners authorised by the ISI and they have various fee models. A list of these Practitioners can be located on the ISI’s website www.isi.gov.ie.