The Bankruptcy rules have been relaxed in Ireland – and the period of applying for discharge from bankruptcy has been reduced from 12 to five years. Also – there is now automatic discharge of bankruptcy after 12 years.
The revised rules are contained in the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011, which came into force yesterday (Mon 10th October 2011)
Justice Minister Alan Shatter said further reforms of personal insolvency law would be introduced early in 2012 to meet commitments under the 85 billion euro EU/IMF agreement.
“The commencement of these new discharge provisions completes an important first stage of the modernisation of our personal insolvency regime,” Shatter said in a statement.