Taoiseach’s insolvency bill launch — lights, cameras, but no action

The press conference in Government Buildings was entitled “Action on Mortgage Debt”.

When Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore took to the podium, they announced that the Cabinet had signed off on the text of the Personal Insolvency Bill.

And that was largely that.

The Taoiseach repeatedly refused to go into detail about the bill’s contents, and its implications for struggling mortgage-holders.

Instead, all he kept saying was that the bill itself would be published on Friday and details would be divulged then.

Mr Kenny will not be in Dublin on Friday. He has the small matter of a crucial European summit in Brussels to attend. So the personal insolvency bill will be launched by the ministers responsible — Justice Minister Alan Shatter, Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Housing Minister Jan O’Sullivan.

Given how little Mr Kenny was prepared to divulge yesterday, it was hard not to conclude the only reason he was holding the press conference was to give the impression he was leading from the front.

He cannot be around on Friday but he was around yesterday, and even though he had little to say, decided to say that little bit anyway — in the name, it seems, of some positive publicity.

But it didn’t work. The more he failed to answer questions, the more apparent it became that the press conference was an exercise in tokenism.

One of the most crucial issues regarding the bill is whether it will give banks a veto over any debt settlement arrangement.

If it does, it would be “deeply unfair” to distressed borrowers, in the view of Free Legal Advice Centres.

A veto would allow the banks to “continue to pick and choose which cases will be settled, as is currently the situation,” FLAC said earlier this year.

“This denies consumers and people in debt a fair, objective legal process to settle debts.”

But Mr Kenny was asked repeatedly yesterday whether the banks would have a veto — as proposed in the original draft version of the bill — and refused to say.

“The bill has got to be published now… today’s presentation is just to inform you that the Government have actually approved it. It will be published on Friday.”

And later: “As I say, the details of this bill will all be dealt with on Friday.” And later again: “As I said, all the technical details will be dealt with on Friday.”

Mr Kenny’s critics claim he is a hollow man — plenty of spin in terms of carefully scripted statements and press launches, but little substance. Events like yesterday will do nothing to counter that criticism.