Guides & Insights

Irish debt recovery, explained plainly — twenty guides for creditors and for anyone being pursued.

Before You Sue

How Long Do I Have to Recover a Debt?

Six years, twelve years - and why the clock rarely starts on the invoice date.

Before You Sue

What a Letter of Demand Should Say

Five things in, everything else out - and the statutory limits on how you may demand payment.

Before You Sue

Acknowledgment & Part Payment Restart the Clock

The rule that rescues creditors and catches debtors - and almost nobody is warned about it.

Before You Sue

Is This Debt Actually Disputed?

Telling a genuine defence from a delaying tactic, by specificity and timing.

Before You Sue

When Suing Is the Wrong Move

The honest list of situations where a judgment is a document you have paid for.

The Court Process

Which Court Will My Claim Be In?

District, Circuit and High Court thresholds - and why the choice affects cost more than speed.

The Court Process

The Summary Summons Explained

The procedure for a liquidated sum, and why most debt claims should never need a trial.

The Court Process

What Happens If They Defend

The threshold for resisting summary judgment, and the moment a debt claim becomes litigation.

The Court Process

Judgment in Default

The cheapest outcome for a creditor and the most avoidable disaster for a debtor.

The Court Process

How Long Does a Debt Claim Take?

Honest ranges for undefended, defended and enforcement stages - and what actually causes delay.

Getting Paid

Getting Judgment Is the Easy Part

Why creditors arrive having won and been paid nothing, and the question they never asked.

Getting Paid

Judgment Mortgages Explained

Security and patience rather than immediate payment - and why equity is everything.

Getting Paid

Instalment Orders & Examination

The route that produces actual money from a debtor with income and nothing to seize.

Getting Paid

Sheriff Execution & What It Can Reach

More limited than creditors expect - and why a nil return is sometimes worth obtaining.

Getting Paid

Attachment of Earnings & Garnishee

Reaching wages, and reaching money that someone else owes your debtor.

Business & Debtor Side

Late Payment Interest You Are Entitled To

Automatic, no reminder needed, not in your contract - and almost never claimed.

Business & Debtor Side

Statutory Demands & Winding-Up Petitions

Powerful where a debt is clear. An abuse of process where it is genuinely disputed.

Business & Debtor Side

Chasing a Company That Has No Assets

Guarantees, retention of title, unregistered security - the questions to ask before writing it off.

Business & Debtor Side

I Received a Solicitor’s Letter - What Now?

What it means, six questions to ask, and the free independent advice available first.

Business & Debtor Side

What a Creditor Cannot Do

Section 11 of the Consumer Credit Act 1995, and the demands that are criminal offences.

General information, not legal advice. This website contains general information about Irish law on debt recovery and enforcement. It is not legal advice and does not create a solicitor—client relationship. Every debt turns on its own facts — the documents, the dates, the parties and the debtor’s circumstances — and advice on yours requires a consultation. Statutory thresholds and figures referred to on this site are subject to change and should be confirmed before any step is taken.

A law firm, not a debt collection agency. Mary Molloy Solicitors provides legal advice and representation. It does not operate as a debt collection agency and does not conduct collection campaigns. Fees are agreed in writing with the client at the outset and are never calculated as a percentage or proportion of any sum recovered. In contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.

No outcome is promised. Nothing on this site states or implies that any debt will be recovered, that any asset will be found, that any enforcement step will succeed, or that any claim will succeed. Recovery depends substantially on the debtor’s means, which are frequently unknown at the outset.

How payment may be demanded is regulated. Section 11 of the Consumer Credit Act 1995 makes it an offence to make a demand for payment by means calculated to cause alarm, distress or humiliation, or falsely to represent that legal proceedings have been or will be issued. Nothing on this site should be read as encouraging any such conduct. Mortgage arrears on a principal private residence are dealt with under a separate regulatory framework and are outside the scope of this site.

If you are the person being pursued. Free, confidential and independent money advice is available in Ireland from MABS, the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, and through the Abhaile scheme for people in mortgage arrears. You do not have to engage a solicitor to get help, and taking advice early generally improves the options available. This firm advises debtors in matters separate from those in which it acts for a creditor, and never both sides of the same debt — conflicts are checked before any substantive discussion.

Tax. Nothing on this website is tax advice. Questions about VAT on recovered sums, bad debt relief or the treatment of write-offs belong with your accountant or tax adviser and with Revenue’s own guidance.