# What changes have been made to the original Personal Insolvency Bill?



## Brendan Burgess (31 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter's speech to the Dáil on 19th December 


covered very little, just technical issues


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## Brendan Burgess (31 Dec 2012)

The debate continued here

*Excluded debts
*
Section 2: In page 11, subsection (1), between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following:

“ “excludable debt”, in relation to a debtor, means any:
(_a_) liability of the debtor arising out of any tax, duty, levy or other charge of a similar nature owed or payable to the State;

(_b_) amount payable by the debtor under the Local Government (Charges) Act 2009;

(_c_) amount payable by the debtor under the Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011;

(_d_)  liability of the debtor arising out of any rates due to the local  authority (within the meaning of the Local Government Act 2001);

(_e_)  debt or liability of the debtor in respect of moneys advanced to the  debtor by the Health Service Executive under the Nursing Homes Support  Scheme Act 2009;

(_f_) debt due by the debtor to any owners’  management company in respect of annual service charges under section  18 of the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011 or contributions due under  section 19 of that Act;

(_g_) debt or liability of the debtor arising under the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005;
“excluded debt”, in relation to a debtor, means any:
(_a_) liability of the debtor arising out of a domestic support order;

(_b_)  liability of the debtor arising out of damages awarded by a court (or  another competent authority) in respect of personal injuries or wrongful  death arising from the tort of the debtor;

(_c_) debt or  liability of the debtor arising from a loan (or forbearance of a loan)  obtained through fraud, misappropriation, embezzlement or fraudulent  breach of trust;

(_d_) debt or liability of the debtor  arising by virtue of a court order made under the Proceeds of Crime Acts  1996 and 2005 or by virtue of a fine ordered to be paid by a court in  respect of a criminal offence;”
 
*Pension assets excluded

I have opened a separate thread on this.
*
* A reasonable standard of living 

*Section 23: In page 24, before section 23, but in Part 2, to insert the following new section:

23.—(1) The Insolvency Service shall, for the purposes of _sections 24_, _60(4)_ and _95(4) _and section 85D (as inserted by _section 146_)  of the Bankruptcy Act 1988, prepare and issue guidelines as to what  constitutes a reasonable standard of living and reasonable living  expenses.

(2) Before issuing guidelines under _subsection (1)_,  the Insolvency Service shall consult with the Minister, the Minister  for Finance, the Minister for Social Protection and such other persons  or bodies as the Insolvency Service considers appropriate or as the  Minister may direct.

(3) In preparing guidelines to be issued under _subsection (1)_, the Insolvency Service shall have regard to—
(_a_)  such measures and indicators of poverty set out in Government policy  publications on poverty and social inclusion as the Insolvency Service  considers appropriate,

(_b_) such official statistics  (within the meaning of the Statistics Act 1993) and surveys relating to  household income and expenditure published by the Central Statistics  Office as the Insolvency Service considers appropriate,

(_c_)  the Consumer Price Index (All Items) published by the Central  Statistics Office or any equivalent index published from time to time by  that Office,

(_d_) such other information as the Insolvency  Services considers appropriate for the performance of its functions  under this section,

(_e_) differences in the size and  composition of households, and the differing needs of persons, having  regard to matters such as their age, health and whether they have a  physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual disability, and

(_f_)  the need to facilitate the social inclusion of debtors and their  dependants, and their active participation in economic activity in the  State_._
(4) Guidelines issued under _subsection (1) _may provide examples of—
(_a_) expenses that may be allowed as reasonable living expenses, and

(_b_) expenses that may not be allowed as reasonable living expenses.
(5) The Insolvency Service shall make guidelines issued under _subsection (1) _available to members of the public on its website.

(6) Subject to _subsection (7)_, the Insolvency Service shall issue guidelines under _subsection (1) _at intervals of such length, not being more than one year, as it considers appropriate.

(7) Failure by the Insolvency Service to comply with _subsection (6) _shall not render invalid for the purposes of this Act the guidelines most recently issued by it under this section.”.



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