We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
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.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Rip to both. I think the port road is in Kilkenny, though. Really sad day so far. Best wishes to both families.
Will young men ever realise that they are not invincible? There is no reset button on lfe .
@Patrick MC Dermott: And also will we ever provide a transport infrastructure that can keep octogenarians from needing to drive.
@Thesaltyurchin: I’m referring to the unacceptable number of young men being killed almost daily on good straight stretches of road, where they collide with a tree or overturn into a ditch. Cars don’t normally decide to flip over. Octogenarians are less likely to be killed in the same manner.
@Patrick MC Dermott: The article doesn’t mention the circumstance (which allows us to create our own story based on whatever information we imagine)… No doubt they make up nearly a quarter of the current statistics but if you do the maths based on the latest RSA data you’ll see that while 30 people are 16–25 some 90 people are outside this demographic. The age groups of 45+ account for 45 of deaths for example, but there’s less visual association for us to attach our ‘vision’ too.
Every Saturday night, lads in their teens or 20’s, I wonder why?
@GVR: Because they are noticed. They enjoy the aesthetic, we spend all day in cars it’s become a massive part of our culture, but it’s still learned through experience, even now there are people in my extended family who spend all day in a car and know nothing about it. Don’t know how to put air in the tyre, or even drive properly on the Motorway. We should be learning about it in school.
have your say