A report from the Law Reform Commission has proposed new ways of dealing with personal debt in a report on the issue being published this morning.
The report makes 200 recommendations, including the setting up of a new Debt Enforcement Office to oversee new non-judicial personal debt arrangements. It also says imprisonment for non-payment of debt should be abolished completely.
The commission's report says its proposed new processes would be of most benefit to people with relatively modest debt levels and assets, including small businesses.
The new Debt Enforcement Office would appoint a panel of personal insolvency trustees, who would manage a new debt settlement arrangement for people who could at least pay some of their debt. They would repay an agreed amount over five years.
For those who have no prospect of paying back any debt, there would be a debt relief order, a once-off order under which the debt would be deemed to be discharged.
The report also proposed reforms of bankruptcy legislation, including automatic discharge from bankruptcy after three years and an increase from €1,900 to €50,000 in the minimum debt level needed to bring a creditor's bankruptcy petition.
It also calls for a licensing system to regulate debt collection.
