Shatter: New law will help end 'bankruptcy tourism'

Justice Minister Alan Shatter says Ireland's new bankruptcy laws will go some way towards ending "bankruptcy tourism".

Under the new regime, people will exit bankruptcy after three years, instead of the previous 12.

Alan Shatter will sign the law into force this afternoon.

He says it is impossible to predict how many people will benefit from the new rules.

But he says they will go some way towards stopping people from declaring bankruptcy abroad.

Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore said that the new laws are a radical improvement.

“It reduces from 12 years to three years the period of time that somebody is declared a bankrupt,” he said.

“I think that will very dramatically change the relationship that borrowers have with their lenders.”