Impaired Farm Credit Bill 2022 (Bill 46 of 2022)

Bill entitled an Act to provide for a sui generis Debt Management Protocol for the farming sector—

A. to provide for the disaggregation of lands charged with repayment of farm debt into two parcels, the "Farmlands" and the "Farmhouse",

B. that debt secured on the parcel designated as the farmhouse be governed by the legislation, general law, and regulatory codes of conduct pertaining to a debtor's principal place of residence, and to take account of the special position of any co-owner thereof,

C. for the role and regulation of receivers as credit servicers and as agent of the debtor,

D. that possession and sale of the farmlands by the secured creditor be deferred until after a moratorium affording the debtor space and time to engage in preparation of a proposal of a "Farm Debt Settlement Arrangement”,

E. further provisions relevant to early discharge of farm debt, following the approach of Directive (EU) 2019/1023,

F. that the said measures be modelled on the company examinership provisions in the Companies (Amendment) Act, 1990, as to a moratorium and otherwise, but also reflect the provisions in the Personal Insolvency Acts, 2012 to 2015, regarding the Court's discretion to enforce on creditors a Farm Debt Settlement Arrangement proposal which modifies the terms of the secured loan but also satisfies section 71(1)(d)(i) and section 115(A)(9)(e) and (f) of the said Acts as to fairness for each class of creditors, and allows the farmer a fresh start for a farm with ongoing viability,

G. for measures to open access to cross border liquidity for second mortgages at sustainable cost, and

H. for the option of returning overindebted lands to State ownership in the interests of the patrimony, food security and the climate change agenda.
oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2022/46/