FROM NEXT YEAR it is going to become a lot easier to become bankrupt in Ireland.
Reforms are set to be introduced to reduce the period that an individual is bankrupt for down from three years to one year, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said.
Speaking about the Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Act 2015 in the Dáil today, he said, “Certainly my intention would be that it can happen”.
“There are a number of pieces of legislation which are on the stocks to move through and if it is possible to put this through, I certainly will be strongly in support of it,” he went on.
It is the passing of this legislation that would bring about the change.
Currently the Irish system of bankruptcy is out of sync with the the one-year terms that exist in Northern Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland.
Labour TD Willie Penrose, who drafted the amendment to the Personal Insolvency Act, has been a major proponent of a change to the Irish bankruptcy system.
In a previous statement, he said:
Rather than have people who might well be innovators and entrepreneurs out of business for a minimum of 3 years… surely it is better if they can return to making economic contributions just like their counterparts elsewhere.
In some circumstances it is currently possible for a person to be bankrupt for eight years if a periodic payment order is sought.
A report from the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality was delivered to Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald in July and an analysis of this is expected to be delivered to cabinet in the next fortnight.
The news of the forthcoming legislation has been welcomed today by the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation.
“This development will be of huge benefit to those debtors who are seeking a fresh start and want to rid themselves of debt, a debt that can never be repaid as well as unreasonable creditors,” said its CEO David Hall.
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