Pearse Doherty
Question:472. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of individuals adjudged bankrupt in the State in each of the years 2010, 2011 and 2012. [18408/13]
View answerTuesday, 23 April 2013
Questions (472, 473)
Pearse Doherty
Question:473. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the overall number of individuals in the State whose bankruptcy has not yet been discharged. [18409/13]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 472 and 473 together.
As the Deputy may be aware, ahead of drafting the Personal Insolvency Act 2012, I introduced a number of amendments to the existing bankruptcy regime in the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011 providing for the reduction of the application period to the court for discharge from bankruptcy from 12 years to 5 years, subject to the same conditions, and for the automatic discharge of bankruptcies on the twelfth anniversary of the bankruptcy adjudication order. The new Personal Insolvency Act 2012 continues the reform of the Bankruptcy Act 1988 and, when commenced, will provide for an automatic discharge from bankruptcy, subject to certain conditions, after 3 years in place of the current 12 years.
The Deputy will be aware that, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service and I have no role in the matter. Section 4(3) of the 1998 Act provides that the Courts Service is independent in the performance of its functions, which includes the provision of statistics. In order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made with the Courts Service and have been informed that 143 bankrupt persons remain undischarged. The number of adjudications in the period from 2010 to 2012 were as follows:
|
Year |
Number of persons adjudicated bankrupt |
|
2010 |
29 |
|
2011 |
33 |
|
2012 |
35 |