The question a creditor asks is “can we win?” The question that decides whether they are glad they instructed anyone is “will pursuing this leave me better off?” Those have different answers more often than people expect.
Five Situations Where the Answer Is Usually No
1. The debtor has nothing. No assets, no income, no guarantor. A judgment against them is a document you have bought at your own expense, and every enforcement application after it is money spent confirming what was already known. Check for a guarantee, retention of title or unregistered security first — but if those come up empty, the arithmetic is what it is. 2. The debt appears statute-barred. Worth checking properly rather than assuming, because an acknowledgment or part payment may have restarted the clock — but if it has not, proceedings invite a complete defence. 3. The cost approaches the sum. On a modest debt, the cost of recovery can equal or exceed what is being recovered, and costs recovery depends on the debtor having something. That is a real answer, not a failure. 4. The dispute is genuine. Then this is litigation rather than recovery, priced and paced entirely differently, and it should be assessed as such. 5. The company is already insolvent. The realistic route is a claim in a liquidation, where you rank as an unsecured creditor — not further expenditure on proceedings against an empty shell.
And Two Where You Should Move Immediately
The mirror image matters just as much. An approaching limitation deadline changes everything: only issuing proceedings stops the clock, there is no general discretion to extend, and a creditor who waits while negotiating loses the claim entirely. If a debt is anywhere near the end of its period, issue to protect the position and negotiate afterwards — the two are entirely compatible. Evidence that assets are being dissipated or a company is failing also changes the calculation, and may point toward urgent relief rather than an ordinary debt claim. Between those two poles, the honest counsel is usually the same: do the arithmetic before spending, and be willing to take a discount or a write-off where the arithmetic says so. A settlement accepted early frequently produces more actual money than a full judgment obtained expensively much later against someone who cannot pay it. That is not defeatism; it is the calculation that should have been made at the outset, and it is the whole of the economics.
Why you are more likely to hear this from a solicitor than an agency: in contentious business a solicitor may not calculate fees as a percentage or proportion of what is recovered. Nobody here is paid more for telling you to pursue a hopeless debt.
Want the arithmetic before the pitch? 01 5827148.
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.