Insolvent ‘Professionals’ Need Bigger And Better Homes Than Insolvent PAYE Workers

Dublin South West representative Seán Crowe TD has called on Minister for Finance Michael Noonan to respond  immediately to a statement by a Personal Insolvency Practioner on RTE’s Drivetime  regarding how people should and will be dealt with by Personal Insolvency Practitioners.

Crowe said he was flabbergasted at the remarks that these Personal Insolvency Practitioners are supposedly working on the basis that an insolvent solicitor would need a larger home than an insolvent PAYE worker, because of their “status in society”,

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“The government needs to clarify immediately if these Personal Insolvency Practitioners are working on the basis that an insolvent solicitor would need a larger home than an insolvent PAYE worker, because of their rarefied  “status in society”, as this person said on RTE radio’s Drivetime.

“Anyone listening to Drivetime and hearing the first interview with a member of the state’s woefully under capacity Personal Insolvency Practioner service must surely have thought they were listened to some twisted black humoured comedy sketch. I personally was flabbergasted at these remarks and so were many of my constituents who rang my office livid with anger.

“People have been waiting desperately for this insolvency service to come into operation since last year and have suffered disappointment after disappointment as its many flaws, such as banks retaining a veto, and  then the multiple delays in establishing it.

“This week many people were more than taken aback when it emerged that only 37 PIPs are in operation when the government itself says it’s expecting thousands of applications. Whole swathes of the state are unserviced and where it is serviced, PIPs can cherry pick clients and then charge huge sums.

“The interview gave some an insight into how some of these PIPs operators think and the scenario he portrayed suggests an extremely unequal and unacceptable society for the rest of us..

“Minister Michael Noonan needs to respond immediately to this bizarre statement; setting out exactly what kind of training the PIPS are getting and whether what this man says is a true reflection of how this scheme will “operate into the future. He needs to reassure hard pressed tax payers that this process is going to be fair, equal and that so called ‘professionals’ trophy properties will not be secured and propped up by their earnings.