Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin
Question:
153. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of home repossessions lending institutions applied for, by number; and the number of those that were either refused, adjourned or granted, respectively, in each of the past seven years, by court district, in tabular form. [48509/18]
View answer
I regret that it has not been possible to compile the requested data within the limited time available. In the circumstances, I will communicate directly with the Deputy when available information has been assembled.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 42A
I refer to my reply to parliamentary question No. 153, Ref. No. 48509/2018 in which I undertook to communicate with the Deputy directly when the data requested in the parliamentary question had been compiled.
The position is that data in relation to repossession proceedings are compiled on a county basis rather than by court district. Unfortunately, detailed repossession statistics are only available for the years 2015 onwards. In that context, please note the following three Tables.
Table 1 shows the number of Civil Bills for Possession in respect of principal dwelling houses issued by the Courts Service broken down by county. As you will note, the number of Civil Bills issued has fallen from a figure of 4,088 in 2015 to 2,439 in 2017 – a fall of some 40%, Figures for the first half of 2018 indicate a further decline in the numbers of Civil Bills issued.
Table 2 shows the number of Possession Orders granted in each county from 2015 onwards. Again, these figures relate to principal dwelling houses. Here too, we see a decline in numbers over the period concerned, from 918 in 2015 to 733 in 2017 – a drop of some 20%. Early figures from 2018 again suggest that these figures are continuing to decline.
Table 3 comprises details, by county, provided by the Courts Service on the numbers of applications for Possession Orders which are either refused or struck out by the courts or which are withdrawn by the lender. You should note that these figures relate to the total number of applications not merely those relating to principal private dwellings. The figures increased substantially from 2015 to 2016 but fell even more substantially from 2016 to 2017. Early figures for 2018 indicate that the numbers are relatively consistent with those for 2017.
An interesting point to note is that, in each of the years for which detailed data are available, the number of applications which were refused, struck out or withdrawn exceeded the number of Possession Orders granted by the Courts.
Table 1 – Civil Bills for Possession Issued by County – 2015 to Q2 2018
County
|
2015
|
2016
|
2017
|
2018 (Q1 and Q2)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Carlow
|
75
|
45
|
30
|
11
|
Cavan
|
55
|
88
|
57
|
19
|
Clare
|
133
|
92
|
84
|
23
|
Cork
|
380
|
272
|
223
|
46
|
Donegal
|
165
|
106
|
89
|
25
|
Dublin
|
826
|
666
|
412
|
101
|
Galway
|
320
|
157
|
107
|
47
|
Kerry
|
86
|
100
|
73
|
17
|
Kildare
|
227
|
219
|
191
|
57
|
Kilkenny
|
116
|
65
|
75
|
6
|
Laois
|
51
|
30
|
51
|
21
|
Leitrim
|
30
|
37
|
15
|
10
|
Limerick
|
177
|
141
|
91
|
24
|
Longford
|
21
|
17
|
26
|
8
|
Louth
|
194
|
99
|
140
|
27
|
Mayo
|
105
|
77
|
55
|
12
|
Meath
|
172
|
209
|
232
|
53
|
Monaghan
|
50
|
49
|
38
|
9
|
Offaly
|
117
|
93
|
46
|
13
|
Roscommon
|
76
|
55
|
48
|
14
|
Sligo
|
44
|
42
|
16
|
13
|
Tipperary
|
187
|
145
|
95
|
32
|
Waterford
|
89
|
118
|
68
|
23
|
Westmeath
|
104
|
105
|
52
|
13
|
Wexford
|
136
|
128
|
94
|
33
|
Wicklow
|
152
|
107
|
31
|
10
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL
|
4088
|
3262
|
2439
|
667
|
|
|
|
|
|
Table 2 – Possession Orders Granted by County – 2015 to Q2 2018
County
|
2015
|
2016
|
2017
|
2018 (Q1 and Q2)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Carlow
|
19
|
19
|
5
|
2
|
Cavan
|
17
|
26
|
17
|
10
|
Clare
|
16
|
19
|
24
|
8
|
Cork
|
123
|
86
|
85
|
22
|
Donegal
|
31
|
6
|
11
|
8
|
Dublin
|
113
|
150
|
172
|
54
|
Galway
|
38
|
56
|
54
|
18
|
Kerry
|
29
|
15
|
13
|
4
|
Kildare
|
33
|
32
|
11
|
14
|
Kilkenny
|
27
|
11
|
17
|
19
|
Laois
|
64
|
27
|
19
|
14
|
Leitrim
|
10
|
9
|
4
|
2
|
Limerick
|
11
|
0
|
17
|
7
|
Longford
|
4
|
4
|
6
|
0
|
Louth
|
54
|
46
|
25
|
17
|
Mayo
|
15
|
42
|
25
|
10
|
Meath
|
35
|
67
|
83
|
12
|
Monaghan
|
16
|
15
|
8
|
3
|
Offaly
|
26
|
16
|
6
|
4
|
Roscommon
|
30
|
30
|
26
|
8
|
Sligo
|
3
|
11
|
5
|
0
|
Tipperary
|
65
|
53
|
26
|
7
|
Waterford
|
32
|
34
|
9
|
7
|
Westmeath
|
15
|
29
|
19
|
8
|
Wexford
|
40
|
12
|
35
|
16
|
Wicklow
|
52
|
33
|
11
|
14
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL
|
918
|
848
|
733
|
288
|
Table 3 – Applications Withdrawn Struck out or Rejected by the Courts – 2015 to Q2 2018
County
|
2015
|
2016
|
2017
|
Q1 and Q2 2018
|
|
|
|
|
|
Carlow
|
1
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
Cavan
|
83
|
68
|
58
|
25
|
Clare
|
4
|
44
|
14
|
0
|
Cork
|
178
|
163
|
160
|
82
|
Donegal
|
0
|
29
|
0
|
0
|
Dublin
|
419
|
665
|
437
|
106
|
Galway
|
48
|
23
|
0
|
63
|
Kerry
|
66
|
53
|
45
|
27
|
Kildare
|
44
|
39
|
3
|
1
|
Kilkenny
|
46
|
29
|
0
|
0
|
Laois
|
80
|
48
|
43
|
20
|
Leitrim
|
25
|
23
|
14
|
15
|
Limerick
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
34
|
Longford
|
21
|
16
|
1
|
2
|
Louth
|
18
|
67
|
19
|
37
|
Mayo
|
62
|
53
|
35
|
26
|
Meath
|
118
|
206
|
59
|
46
|
Monaghan
|
5
|
5
|
1
|
7
|
Offaly
|
1
|
51
|
8
|
1
|
Roscommon
|
0
|
35
|
25
|
8
|
Sligo
|
1
|
18
|
0
|
0
|
Tipperary
|
32
|
25
|
70
|
12
|
Waterford
|
14
|
37
|
5
|
0
|
Westmeath
|
88
|
75
|
48
|
21
|
Wexford
|
100
|
52
|
54
|
11
|
Wicklow
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL
|
1454
|
1829
|
1113
|
544
|
|
|
|
|
|