New bankruptcy laws will come into force

They are due to be signed into law by the Justice Minister Alan Shatter at around midday.
Under the new regime the time taken to exit bankruptcy will fall from 12 years to three and the cost of declaring yourself bankrupt will be halved from around 1,400 euro to 750 euro.
Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin says it will offer relief to many still struggling from the financial crisis.
“A lot of people are really struggling out there still; for some, this last step – which will be the issue of bankruptcy – will be the appropriate step if the other measures that have been put in place are inappropriate for their set of circumstances” he said.
“So….it’s an important last piece of the jigsaw to bring the sweet of measures under the Insolvency Act into force” he added.