Madam, – Master of the High Court Edmund Honohan (Home News, May 12th) clearly wants current legislation updated to meet contemporary social and economic conditions in our country, specifically in relation to “debt forgiveness”.
Mr Honohan appears to have a humane disposition towards the plight of so many people who are unable to meet their financial commitments. His comments are reassuring.
However, what is really disturbing, apart from the financial and social misery of so many people, is the fact that various pieces of legislation remain on the statute books of the State, such as the 1840 Judgment Mortgage Act and the 1850 Debtors (Ireland) Act.
The Law Reform Commission report published in 2004 provided recommendations for many of our current legal problems, and yet seven years later, these recommendations have not been implemented.
Can we really call ourselves a progressive society if some of our laws are, to say the least, inappropriate and anachronistic? – Yours, etc,