Parliamentary Question to the Minister for Justice and Equality

To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons expected to seek assistance from the Personal Insolvency Agency in 2013; the expected time frame in which the Personal Insolvency Agency will deal with individual cases and therefore an appropriate waiting time for persons to be dealt with once the process is underway; the order persons will be seen; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Reply from Minister Alan Shatter T.D.

As I indicated in my Press Release of 19 December, 2012, it is difficult to ascertain the likely demand on the new Insolvency Service. The tentative estimate of applications for the two main debt resolution processes – the Debt Settlement Arrangement and Personal Insolvency Arrangement – is roughly 15,000 applications plus a further 3,000 to 4,000 applications for Debt Relief Notices in the first full year . We would also expect about 3,000 bankruptcy applications during this time .

The Insolvency Service of Ireland aims to open its office, launch its website, commence an information campaign with the issuing of publications and relevant guidelines in Quarter 1 of 2013.

The regulatory and IT frameworks required for the Service to accept and process applications for the three new debt arrangements should be in place during Quarter 2 of 2013.

The Act allows for the registration and   regulation of personal insolvency practitioners and authorised intermediaries who can advise individuals of their eligibility to seek debt resolution under the three new arrangements.  

It is not possible to say at this stage the time it will take to process cases.