The summary summons is the procedure used to recover a liquidated sum — a debt that is a specific ascertainable amount rather than damages requiring assessment. Its entire purpose is to avoid a full trial where there is nothing genuinely to try.
What Counts as a Liquidated Sum
Broadly, an amount that can be worked out arithmetically from the contract or the account rather than one a court has to assess. An unpaid invoice for goods supplied at an agreed price is a liquidated sum. A loan balance is a liquidated sum. Professional fees at an agreed rate are. What is not a liquidated sum is a claim for damages requiring evaluation — loss of profit, the cost of remedying defective work where the figure is contested, compensation for a breach where the amount is a matter of judgment. That distinction matters because it determines the procedure available, and a claim dressed up as a liquidated sum when it is really a damages claim will not survive contact with the process. Where a claim mixes both, the analysis needs doing carefully before anything issues.
The Two Routes to Judgment, and the Exit
Proceedings issue and are served. If the defendant enters no appearance within the time allowed, judgment may be sought in default — the cheapest and quickest outcome, and how most undefended debt judgments are obtained. If the defendant does appear, the creditor applies for summary judgment. At that point the court is not trying the case on its merits; it is asking whether the defendant has raised a genuine issue that ought to go to trial. Where there is no real defence — bare denials, unsupported assertions, complaints that do not answer whether the sum is owed — judgment follows without a plenary hearing, which is exactly what the procedure exists for. Where an arguable defence appears, the matter is remitted to plenary hearing and stops being a debt claim: pleadings, possibly discovery, evidence, trial. Time moves from weeks to many months, and costs cease to be proportionate to a modest debt. That transition is the single biggest financial risk in debt recovery, and it is why assessing the likelihood of a defence honestly before issuing is worth more effort than almost anything else in the file.
The practical implication: the summary procedure is fast and economical precisely when the debt is genuinely undisputed. Using it as a way of testing whether a debtor will fight is an expensive experiment, because the cost of being wrong is borne entirely by the creditor.
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Richard O’Shea — Solicitor
Solicitor at Mary Molloy Solicitors, established 1981, with offices at The Ormond Building on Ormond Quay — a short walk from the Four Courts. The firm advises creditors on recovery and enforcement, and, in separate matters, advises debtors who have received demands or proceedings. It is a law firm and not a debt collection agency: fees are agreed in writing at the outset and are never calculated as a percentage or proportion of what is recovered. 01 5827148 · richardoshea@marymolloysolicitors.com · LinkedIn
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.