The much-heralded new Irish insolvency service, established last September, is not fit for purpose. More than 100,000 individuals endure sustained mortgage arrears.

News emerges that teachers and nurses are taking sabbaticals to go bankrupt in the UK.

Last week the Dail voted down a private members' bill by Stephen Donnelly TD to facilitate simpler and less costly options of examinership for viable small businesses with unsustainable debt or lease legacies. Yesterday the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI) hosted a seminar to try establish workable protocols for Debt Relief Certificates.

To date only one protective certificate has been issued by the High Court under Personal Insolvency Arrangements (PIAs). Official Ireland's indifference to debtors is preventing economic recovery and inflicting acute hardship on families.

Intractable problems are not new to this country. We don't legislate for abortion, yet we ask Britain to deal with thousands of unwanted pregnancies annually. Abortion "tourists" are condemned to furtive secretive arrangements. Young unemployed have their jobseeker's allowance cut by €40 per week to facilitate an early employment exodus to the UK and beyond. Best way to stop bankruptcy tourism is to provide a legal remedy for personal insolvency here. Talk to the people working tirelessly for those drowning in debt: David Hall & Irish Mortgage Holders Association; Ross Maguire, Vincent P Martin of New Beginnings; and Barry Lyons.

Irish solutions are simply too complex and costly. Creditors retain excessive powers of veto over possible repayment arrangements. Disbarment periods are too severe for people to reconnect with earning opportunities.

When I underwent my first interview with the Insolvency Service case officer, he stated: "Mr Yates. You must understand the ethos of the UK bankruptcy system. We know a lot went wrong to reach this point, but every person retains the potential of a future economic contribution to society. Our objective is that you make a fresh start, so that you can play a productive role again."

The Brits have been at personal insolvency since 1986. Between 50,000 and 74,000 people per year are inducted and processed under their regime. They have seen every type of genuine, delinquent and rogue creditor and debtor. If you don't fully and honestly cooperate, they will suspend your discharge, until you do so.

They are forensic in pursuit of debtors who put assets beyond reach of their creditors. They don't tolerate dishonesty, concealment or the abuse of rules. Commentators speaking of their leniency usually haven't any direct experience of the exacting processes.

If we had an ounce of compassion for those drowning in debt, we would readily copy and paste their voluminous statutes, protocols and regulations. The clarity of UK case precedents/jurisprudence on all issues of Income Payment Orders, Bankruptcy Restriction Orders, trustees in bankruptcy and discharges mean we do not have to reinvent the wheel. Big beneficiaries would be banks who could move on from five years of paralysis, writing new loan books and closing down non-performing portfolios.

The deadweight drag of uncertainty hanging over spending capacity of a large chunk of consumers could be purged. We are either too proud or too immature to adopt this accessible administrative remedy. European Court of Justice rulings aren't only of benefit to citizens like Louise O'Keeffe, who was systemically denied fair treatment by Irish authorities. They are equally applicable to Irish debtors. Legal rights of movement across Europe are transnational.

Many small firms carry burdens of yesteryear property leases or onerous contracts. They are being forced into insolvency rather than examinership due to having to go to the High Court, instead of circuit courts. Donnelly's bill could have circumvented pro forma costly court procedures; restored powers of examiners to vary terms of leases/contracts that existed in company law prior to 1999; and empowered examiners to implement debt repayment arrangements on secured creditors, which would not have worsened their otherwise attainable entitlements. All changes would still have allowed creditors access to court processes to vindicate rights.

Only 64 companies have gone through examinership over the past three years. By US Chapter 11 norms of 20pc rather than 1.5pc, business survival rates could protect thousands of jobs in small and medium enterprises. Civil servants remain ambivalent to workable solutions, preferring to notionally underwrite state banks.

No one in the Dail has attempted reform of laws on personal guarantees (PGs). "Did you not know what you were signing?" is the dismissive refrain. No one has defined any limitation on a personal guarantee. Is it the extent of your assets/earnings on the date of the loan? Or on the default date? Or future assets/earnings over two, five, 10 or 20 years? Or even beyond the grave, if your creditor deems it so?

The open-ended nature of personal guarantees leads to bad and lazy lending. Banks don't have to clarify what's the secured collateral, fixed or floating charge against which the loan is held. There is no appetite to learn harsh lessons of booming credit bubbles to ensure avoidance of a future crisis. Similarly, in the event of repossession of your home there are no limits on the subsequent pursuit of creditors against mortgagors – in stark contrast with the clinical American severance practice of 'jingle mail'. Official ambivalence reigns supreme.

Allied Irish Banks' recent initiative on split mortgages, involving partial incentivised debt writedowns is a welcome, if belated, initiative. Pragmatic cash settlements by exiting banks such as BoSI, ACC and Danske are evident. Certain toxic loans aren't fully repayable. A majority perspective of those managing or struggling to repay debts amounts to an "I'm alright Jack" attitude of indifference towards those who should suffer consequences of their own decisions. Short-sighted, narrow perspectives blind officialdom to endgame concessionary resolutions.

While this is no longer a problem for me, I can't forget or fail to empathise with the endless anguish and uncertainty of those who have been effectively abandoned by establishment neglect. It's never too late to do the right thing.

Irish Independent