100,000 financially distressed people are not 'dead animals'

By Michael C Grogan - Insolvency Practitioner

Over recent weeks Navan District Court has been adjudicating on issues concerning distressed debt, a matter which affects thousands of people in every street and parish in Meath and across our land.

I have made representations to courts not only of the financial cost which was being adjudicated upon, but the total cost, tangible and intangible, of such unfortunate cases and outlined to the court the emotional scars, the fears, the trauma and the all-consuming shame and mental health issues associated with financial distress.

I have outlined the endemic systematic failures of our Government to provide the desperately needed framework to facilitate the re-engagement of these people to start contributing again to society, whom are abandoned and treated as castaways at the highest level of government and the insistence of penal ‘pay and display' treatment of these unfortunate people.

The issues of one case are very familiar and undoubtedly resonates with many people in such circumstances.
The defendant was a sub-contractor who, on the financial and economic implosion of our country, was not paid monies owed to him and therefore he was unable to meet his financial obligations.

The applicant was a Wall Street Fund which bought the debt book, which had already been sold several times over.
It seems these loan book are purchased with regularity and enthusiasm by eager wealthy Wall Street Vulture Funds with the full expectation of generating substantial profits from their investment and they in turn seek refuge in every court in the land to secure and enforce that expectation.

In outlining to the court the endemic and systematic rejection of persons with financial difficulties by our society I referred back to The Bankruptcy Act 1988 and quoted some penal provisions as inadequate, austere and medieval in content and substance, which at that time legislated that a person making a declaration of bankruptcy under this Act must:
- Be a bankrupt for life, yet the crime of murder is mitigated to a maximum term of 12 years.
- Take a full page advertisment in regional papers and advertisment in national papers to highlight the extent of financial distress.
- Obtain Court permission to leave the country?

There is a very strong argument that the medieval provisions of this law, accelerated the easy flow of money and gave encouragement to many subprime banks to relax and in many cases nullify any assessment of financial means prior to granting loans as the option of bankruptcy in this country was not available to its citizens, as opposed to all other developed countries at that time.

The Insolvency Act 2013, introduced some miserly amendments, but retained the austere and penal provisions, whereby the period of adjudication is presented as three years.

A closer examination reveals that S157 of this Act allows the credit institution to make an application to the court for an order for a period not to exceed five years therefore rendering a theoretical extending period of adjudication to seven to eight years.

In this one case my client had:
- NO bank account;
- NO transport;
- NO confidence;
- NO involvement in normal community activities;
- NO hope.

In any other developed country with an open modern economy a person with such a record of hard working ethic prior to his financial difficulies would be now:
- Generating Income;
- Creating employment;
- Paying Taxes;
- Contributing to society.

A further example which seems to illustrate the prejudicial attitude and bias against financially distressed people is remarks made by Finance Minister Michael Noonan on vulture funds to a recent Oireachtas Housing Committee.
“Vultures provide a very good service in the ecology through cleaning up dead animals that are littered across the landscape.”

Does the Minister realise what I can only describe as this derogatory and arrogant statement is devastating for tens of thousands of citizens of this state, most of whom are suffering in silent anonimity, and many in poor mental health due to the stresses and pressures of their position?

Does it not underline the endemic abdication of responsibility and attitude at the highest level of Government towards financially distressed people, and yet the banks and all the major builders were all accommodated in an instant?

Do we accept that it is always the ‘Little Man’ who bears the brunt and long term scars of all international crises be it economic or financial wars, whilst the generals reload and re-emerge unblemished?

This abdication of responsibility by Government to adequately recognise the desperation of all its citizens has resulted in our Judiciary alone and in isolation being assigned with the burden of responsabilty with little or no tools to preserve and protect the basic fundemental human rights as engraved in our Constitution for all of our people to the lawful entitlement of fairness, equity and dignity.

Mercifully, in many cases the Judiciary has shown great compassion and tolerance in dealing with these very difficult situations and a great unspoken debt of gratitude is owed by thousands of people afforded compassion and good common sense by our judges in every court in the land.

If our Judiciary wavers or falters with this heavy burden, the analogy of ‘consumption of dead animals by vultures’ becomes a reality in its most naked form.

Maybe our Minister for Finance should read our Constitution again to remind himself of the primary reason he was elected to represent the sovereign people of this State.

He should recognise that there are a forgotten people in his care who are desperately seeking an opportunity to work, pay taxes and contribute to society.

michaelcgrogan@yahoo.com