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# Debt
Thousands asked for help from insolvency service in its first months
In the first three months of the ISI’s existence, it was inundated with calls and emails.
THE INSOLVENCY SERVICE of Ireland received nearly 10,000 telephone and email requests for information in the first three months of its existence.
The service began to accept applications from people trying to be declared insolvent (rather than bankrupt) on 9 September. From then until the end of November, it received 6,510 phone calls and 1,731 emails about its service.
The website of the ISI, which published these figures, was visited 107,460 times and its information documents were downloaded 35,183 times. The top three guides that people wanted to download were:
- Guide to Reasonable Living Expenses
- Guide to the Personal Insolvency Arrangement
- Personal Insolvency Practitioners information
Justice Minister Alan Shatter told the Dáil just before it broke for Christmas that in the interest of confidentiality, the ISI would not give details of the actual number of applications on a continual basis but would provide quarterly statistics as of this coming year.
The ISI was set up under last year’s Personal Insolvency Act and has 80 staff members dealing with applications. It provides for three new debt settlement procedures, and reduces the term of bankruptcy to three years (from 12).
The aim of the ISI is to provide more manageable debt settlement arrangements for people – and protect basics like childcare and housing.
TheJournal.ie has put together a Q&A guide to how the service works and how it might help you – click here to read.
Day One: Insolvency service opens its doors>
Explainer: What does the Insolvency Service of Ireland do?>
