I am pleased to launch the first quarterly statistical report for the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI).
During the course of the last twelve months, the ISI has overseen the introduction of the new alternatives to bankruptcy introduced by the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 - the Debt Relief Notice (DRN), the Debt Settlement Arrangement (DSA) and the Personal Insolvency Arrangement (PIA).
The bankruptcy regime has also been reformed through this Act. The automatic discharge period for a bankruptcy is now 3 years, down from 12.
Foreword
As a result of these efforts, insolvent debtors now have viable options open to them to deal with their over indebtedness. The very fact that these options exist has also encouraged creditors and insolvent debtors to reach settlements by way of informal arrangements. Where these solutions are appropriate to a debtors circumstance, the ISI welcomes this development as the ultimate goal of returning insolvent debtors to solvency is achieved.
As at the end of March 2014 the key statistics around the number of Protective Certificates issued, the number of DRNs, DSAs and PIAs in place and the number of new bankruptcies are lower than many expected. I believe as stakeholders become comfortable with the operation of these new solutions, their uptake will increase. I'm encouraged by the significant number of new cases entering our system since the beginning of the year and the feedback received from the Personal Insolvency Practitioner and Approved Intermediary community which highlights an expectation that the numbers will increase significantly over the coming months. The development of a protocol between creditors and practitioners covering DSAs and PIAs will also assist in this regard.
These statistics will be updated on a quarterly basis and will be published in the Statistics section of the ISI website www.isi.gov.ie.
Lorcan O'Connor Director
Click here to view the full Insolvency Service of Ireland report