Urgent need for debt resolution legislation

Details published earlier this week about a settlement reached between a mortgage holder and the Bank of Ireland give a good indication of how people struggling under the burden of unsustainable mortgages might see a future with possibilities rather than one of relentless pressure and debt.

Though the bank deals with customers on a case-by-case basis, Laura White’s story is pretty representative of the dilemma facing thousands of individuals and families. A 35-year-old nurse from Dublin, she reached a settlement on mortgage debt allowing her to repay the bank €18,000 — at a rate of €250 a month for six years — to settle an outstanding debt of €170,000.

Like thousands of others she had bought a home close enough to the market’s high-water mark and a few years later decided to move away but the sale of the house did not cover the debt leaving a shortfall of €170,000. However, because of the deal, she can plan her future without an unmanageable burden. Though this was an individual settlement the whole area of debt relief is so complex that earlier this week Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin announced that the Government had decided it was deferring publication of personal insolvency legislation until June.