Insolvency guidelines prove a PR disaster

Even for such a clumsy Coalition it has been a desperate spectacle to watch as Enda Kenny and Co lost control of the political narrative surrounding new insolvency rules — and then blamed everyone else for their own incompetence.

Despite it being belated and leaving the banks with the whip hand, bringing some much needed debt relief for families struggling in mortgage misery should have been a boost for the Government — but, instead, it managed to turn it into a PR disaster.

Confusion reigned in government circles from Sunday when a newspaper leaked draft guidelines on how people seeking help with debt distress are to be treated, especially the incendiary clause: “Where a person is working and paying for childcare as a consequence of his or her employment, the cost of childcare should not exceed the income from the employment.”