REGISTRATION AND PUBLICATION OF A BANKRUPTCY ORDER IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (‘IRELAND’)

PART 2

May 2012

REGISTRATION AND PUBLICATION OF A BANKRUPTCY ORDER IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (‘IRELAND’)  

43.8.25 Registration and publication of a bankruptcy order in Ireland – background

Irish law requires that, where a liquidator (see paragraph 43.8.30) intends to take any action in Ireland, the insolvency order under which he/she is acting must be registered (see paragraph 43.8.27) with the Official Assignee in Dublin (see paragraph 43.8.26) [note 1].

Such registration will be required where, for example, the official receiver intends to register his/her interest in a property on the Irish land register (see paragraph 43.8.14).

Irish law also requires mandatory publication of the bankruptcy order in the State as soon as practicable after the making of the order, in certain circumstances [note 2] (see paragraph 43.8.31).

 

43.8.26 Official Assignee

The Official Assignee is the approximate equivalent of the official receiver in England and Wales.  Information regarding the Official Assignee can be viewed here (www.citizensinformation.ie/.../office_of_the_official_assignee_in_bankruptcy.html).

 

43.8.27 Procedure for registration of a bankruptcy order in Ireland

In order to effect registration of a bankruptcy order on the register of foreign bankruptcies kept by the Official Assignee in Dublin, the official receiver must provide the Official Assignee with the following documents: 

  • A copy of the bankruptcy order with an original court seal.  The order should state that it was made pursuant to article 3(1) of The EC Regulation on Insolvency Proceedings 2000, i.e. confirming that the proceedings are main proceedings (see paragraph 43.8.25). 
  • A certified (by the official receiver) copy of the notice of no meeting (NNM), if the official receiver is trustee. 
  • A covering letter requesting registration.  The letter at Annex 7 may be used by official receivers for this purpose if acting as trustee.  Annex 9 may be used if the official receiver is receiver and manager.

 

43.8.28 Voluntary registration of a bankruptcy order in Ireland

The EC Regulation [note 3] and Irish law [note 4] allows the liquidator to obtain registration (see paragraph 43.8.27) whether or not he/she intends to take action or publish in the State.

It is anticipated that official receivers would apply for such voluntary registration only rarely and, generally, applications should be limited to those circumstances where Irish law requires such action (see paragraph 43.8.25).

 

43.8.29 Delivery and resolution of application for registration

The application for registration of the bankruptcy order in Ireland (see paragraph 43.8.27) should be sent to:

Official Assignee’s Office

Phoenix House

Phoenix Street

Smithfield

Dublin 7

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

On receipt of the relevant documents (see paragraph 43.8.28), the Official Assignee will enter the bankruptcy on the register of foreign bankruptcies and provide the official receiver with a certified copy of the entry in the register.

 

43.8.30 ‘Liquidator’ in the context of EC Regulation and Irish law and the duty/option to seek registration of the order

Irish law provides that terms in the legislation relating to the effects of the EC Regulation shall be given the same meaning as that given in the EC Regulation [note 5].  The term ‘liquidator’ is given no special definition in the Irish legislation.

The EC Regulation defines ‘liquidator’ to include the functions of liquidator, trustee and Official Receiver [note 6] [note 7]. 

It is possible, therefore, for the official receiver, when acting as liquidator, trustee or receiver and manager, to effect registration in Ireland if the circumstances of the case require (see paragraph 43.8.25) or warrant (see paragraph 43.8.28) it.

 

43.8.31 Publication of a bankruptcy order in Ireland – mandatory publication

The EC Regulation provides that a country in which the bankrupt has an establishment (in essence, establishment means a trading premises – see paragraph 41.14) may require mandatory publication [note 8]

Irish law provides that if the bankrupt has an establishment in Ireland, the liquidator would be required to arrange for publication of the notice of bankruptcy to be effected in the Iris Oifigiúil (the official Irish state gazette) - http://www.irisoifigiuil.ie/ (see paragraph 43.8.35) and at least one Irish daily national newspaper (see paragraph 43.8.34) as soon as practicable after the making of the order [note 9].  In practice, therefore, this publication will be necessary where the official receiver is receiver and manager of the bankrupt’s estate, and he/she is given the power to do so under Irish law (see paragraph 43.8.33).

Additionally, the Official Assignee (see paragraph 43.8.26)  may require such publication, whether or not the debtor has an establishment, on receipt of an application for registration (see paragraph 43.8.27) if he/she deems it appropriate.

 

43.8.32 Publication of a bankruptcy order in Ireland – voluntary publication

The EC Regulation allows a foreign liquidator (see paragraph 43.8.33) to require that notice of the bankruptcy is published in another EU country in line with procedures for publication that would normally apply in the relevant country [note 10]

The procedure in Ireland is that the advertisement must be placed in the Iris Oifigiúil (see paragraph 43.8.31), and in at least one daily newspaper in circulation in the area where the bankrupt resides.  Unless the bankrupt resides in Ireland (which is unlikely if the bankruptcy order has been made in England and Wales), voluntary publication should be restricted to the Iris Oifigiúil (see paragraph 43.8.35). It is not considered that this will cause the official receiver any difficulty as it is likely that newspaper advertisement in a bankruptcy will be necessary only where the bankrupt has been trading in Ireland prior to the bankruptcy order and, in that case, such advertisement is mandatory (see paragraph 43.8.31).

Voluntary publication may only be carried out after registration of the order with the Official Assignee [note 11] (see paragraph 43.8.27).

 

43.8.33 ‘Liquidator’ and the duty/option to publish in the context of EC Regulation and Irish law

Irish law provides that terms in the legislation relating to the effects of the EC Regulation shall be given the same meaning as that given in the EC Regulation [note 12].  The term ‘liquidator’ is given no special definition in the Irish legislation.

The EC Regulation defines ‘liquidator’ to include the functions of liquidator, trustee and Official Receiver [note 13] [note 14].  It is possible, therefore, for the official receiver, when acting as liquidator, trustee or receiver and manager, to effect publication in Ireland if the circumstances of the case require (see paragraph 43.8.31) or warrant (see paragraph 43.8.32) it.  

 

43.8.34 Publication of the notice of bankruptcy in a newspaper in Ireland (amended April 2012)

Where the official receiver is required to publish notice of the bankruptcy in Ireland, he/she should contact The Service’s advertising agents (see paragraph 5.17) to discuss his/her requirements. 

Official receivers should be aware that the cost of the advertisement is likely to be in the region of £400 to £600.  The notice placed should be the same, or substantively similar, to the example notice at Annex 8.

 

43.8.35 Publication of the notice of bankruptcy in the state gazette in Ireland – The Iris Oifigiúil

Notices for publication in the state gazette of Ireland (the Iris Oifigiúil) (see paragraph 43.8.31) should be e-mailed in Word or PDF format to the editor of the Iris Oifigiúil to mailto:info@irisoifigiuil.ie.

The Iris Oifigiúil is published twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Fridays, and notices for publication must reach the editor by 2pm the previous day.

The notice should be the same, or substantively similar, to the example notice at Annex 8.  The cost of such a notice is likely to be in the region of 45 Euros, which charge will be invoiced to the official receiver after publication.  Payment can be by cheque or electronic transfer.