Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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336. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to act on the recommendations made by the Insolvency Service of Ireland as part of its section 141 consultation submission made in June 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7390/20]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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My Department has completed extensive work on the review of Part 3 of the Personal Insolvency Acts 2012 to 2015, following the public consultation already held under section 141 of those Acts. Part 3 is the core of the personal insolvency legislation, dealing with the operation in practice of the three personal insolvency mechanisms – Debt Relief Notices, Debt Settlement Arrangements, and Personal Insolvency Arrangements.

In practice, the insolvency legislation has already been extensively reviewed and developed since 2012. Key reforms introduced include the section 115A court review process (which removed the so-called ‘bank veto’) enacted in 2015, interlocking reforms to bankruptcy also enacted in 2015, and the establishment in 2016, and extension in 2019, of the Abhaile Mortgage Arrears Resolution Service (which in effect ensures that borrowers at risk of losing their homes due to mortgage arrears can access free independent expert financial and legal advice to get solutions into place, and can access legal aid to support a section 115A court review application or appeal).

Nevertheless, we have always said that we will keep this important legislation under review, and will take any further action needed to ensure that it operates effectively.

In the course of the public consultation, a range of detailed submissions was received. These have been carefully analysed, and a number of follow-up discussions have been held with the stakeholders concerned.

The submission from the Insolvency Service of Ireland highlighted a number of points where it believes legislative amendments would be beneficial. Given the ISI’s statutory role in monitoring the operation of the personal insolvency system and advising me on matters related to their functions, their suggestions are particularly important for the review. Subsequent discussions with the ISI have highlighted additional possible changes to the Personal Insolvency Acts.

The ISI’s Consultative Forum, which brings together a variety of stakeholders involved in personal insolvency, made a separate submission to the review, which indicated a strong level of consensus between representatives of debtors and creditors in support of specified measures to streamline the personal insolvency process.

Submissions received also suggested measures to extend access to personal insolvency options to a wider cohort of borrowers, and to encourage more constructive engagement with the legislation by both creditors and debtors, with a view to supporting and accelerating the agreement of sustainable statutory personal insolvency options.

All of these proposals are being considered as part of the review.

Following the closing date for submissions, some additional issues emerged, and the timeframe for the review was extended to allow these to be taken into account. Most of these have since been resolved by a series of important court judgments under the Personal Insolvency Acts. A small number of remaining points are likely to be the subject of recommendations by the review.

The finalisation of the review, in consultation with my colleague the Minister for Finance, has been delayed by other urgent legislative priorities related to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it remains an active priority for completion. As the Deputy is aware from my replies to his recent questions (Dáil Question No. 486 of 20 May 2020 and Covid-19 PQ 5.709 of 5 May 2020), those priorities include consideration of certain specific formal or procedural statutory requirements which may be difficult or impracticable to comply with, due to COVID-19 restrictions, including a small number of requirements under the Personal Insolvency Acts, so that any necessary amendments could be addressed in an urgent forthcoming Bill.

I expect the review report to be finalised by September, following further consultations with the Department of Finance, as required by s. 141 of the Acts, and with the Office of the Attorney General. That timetable, as the Deputy will appreciate, is of course subject to the legislative priorities that will be decided in the new Programme for Government.