Bankruptcy laws - Change can cut numbers defaulting

The Personal Insolvency Bill unveiled yesterday by Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Minister for Justice Alan Shatter is designed to reform the country’s outdated bankruptcy laws.

The new bill is welcome, because the existing system was being undermined by the perception that some high-profile business people were being allowed to walk away from their debts by simply leaving the jurisdiction and filing for bankruptcy under a more lenient system abroad.

In welcoming the new legislation, one specialist noted that it could sound the death knell for what he termed “bankruptcy tourism”. The proposed legislation, which reforms the Bankruptcy Act of 1988, is complex, but it has received a guarded welcome from the free legal advisers, FLAC, and the legal advocacy group New Beginning.