Controversial Debt Deal Guidelines Cleared

Controversial guidelines on what people with a state-approved debt deal can live on will be launched this week.

While there is no requirement for ministers to approve the guidelines, they were shown to the cabinet at its weekly meeting on Wednesday.

It is understood that the guidelines will be largely unchanged to those previously revealed by the Irish Independent.

If a family of two adults with one child in primary and one in secondary, are having debts written off under the new personal insolvency rule, they will be told to live on €20 a day.

The highly controversial childcare aspect of the guidelines has not been altered, meaning a second earner will be told to give up work if what they are paid does not cover the cost of childcare.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar sparked controversy when he suggested women might have to give up their jobs if their childcare costs were more than they earned.

"I know one or two women who probably don't make very much money at all from working, but they do it to keep their position on the career ladder," he said.

"But if you can't pay your mortgage as a result, or buy your groceries as a result, then that is something that needs to be taken into account in any insolvency arrangement."

The 55-page document does stress that the details are guidelines only, and not mandatory.

(H/CD)