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Justice committee agrees insolvency bill waiver

The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice has agreed to a request from the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee to waive pre-legislative scrutiny of the Personal Insolvency (Amendment) (No. 1) Bill 2020.

This bill is aimed at increasing supports for borrowers whose income has been severely hit by the pandemic.

Minister McEntee had described the bill as “short but urgent”, as it addresses problems in current legislation which risk denying struggling mortgage holders protection.

Court review

The Personal Insolvency Amendment Act 2015 allowed insolvent homeowners to seek review by a court if their mortgage lender or other creditors refused a reasonable proposal for a personal insolvency arrangement.

The protection, however, applied only to mortgage arrears dating from before 1 January 2015.

The justice committee chaired by Deputy James Lawless (pictured) met on Wednesday (21 October) and agreed that, to avoid any delay in the publication of this legislation, it would recommend that the business committee would agree to waive pre-legislative scrutiny.

Deputy Lawless said his committee looked forward to engaging with the minister on the bill’s speedy passage.