Written answers

Wednesday, 29 January 2014

Department of Justice and Equality

Insolvency Service of Ireland Data

Photo of Ann PhelanAnn Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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141. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide in tabular form, broken down by county, the number that have applied for debt relief notice, personal insolvency arrangement or debt settlement arrangements; the number of persons that have filed for bankruptcy since January 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4464/14]

Photo of Ann PhelanAnn Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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142. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide in tabular form the average cost of engaging with a personal insolvency practitioner; the number of personal insolvency practitioners broken down by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4465/14]

Photo of Alan ShatterAlan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 141 and 142 together.

The Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI) has indicated that in the interest of confidentiality it will not be providing details or breakdowns of the numbers of applications for the various debt relief solutions received or being processed at this time. The ISI fully intends to provide quarterly statistics once a statistically meaningful number of applications have been processed. This is anticipated to be in the second quarter of 2014.

With regards to filings for bankruptcy, I am advised by the Courts Service that High Court jurisdiction covers all counties and that the Courts Service is unable to provide a county by county breakdown in relation to filings for bankruptcy. The Courts Service has provided the following data which relates specifically to applications for self-adjudication as distinct from applications by a creditor to have a debtor adjudicated bankrupt. In 2013, 19 applications were lodged in the Examiners Office, of which 17 were adjudicated bankrupt and 2 cases were adjourned to 2014. In 2014, 17 applications had been lodged in the Examiners Office as at 27 January 2014, of which 6 cases are listed before the Courts. The Courts Service has indicated the remaining cases are expected to be listed before the High Court during February 2014.

It is not possible to provide the average cost of engaging a Personal Insolvency Practitioner (PIP) because the ISI has no regulatory power over the level of fees that a PIP may charge. As at 27 January 2014 there are 110 PIPs authorised by the ISI and they have various fee models. Some PIPs do not charge a fee for an initial consultation while others do. A list of authorised PIPs can be found on the ISI's website, www.isi.gov.ie. In all cases fees, costs and outlays must be in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 15 of the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 (Authorisation and Supervision of Personal Insolvency Practitioners) Regulations (S.I. No. 209 of 2013). The PIP must at the outset of the Debt Settlement Arrangement or Personal Insolvency Arrangement process provide the person in writing with details of the fee arrangements and likely costs involved in entering into an arrangement before appointment. The fees and costs can be expected to form part of the arrangement and as such creditors will have an opportunity to vote on them.

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