The High Court has refused Richard Dineen’s application to dismiss a bankruptcy summons brought by Promontoria (Arrow) Ltd, finding that neither of the two grounds he raised required a trial outside the bankruptcy process.
Ms Justice Costello delivered the judgment on 16 July 2018. The application was made under section 8(6) of the Bankruptcy Act 1988, which requires a court to dismiss a summons if an issue arises for trial. The court held that no such issue arose and refused the application. The judgment does not itself adjudicate Dineen bankrupt.
The first argument concerned service. The summons issued on 23 October 2017, and the respondent argued that the petitioner had applied to extend the service period only after the initial 28 days had expired, making the extension order invalid and the summons spent.
The court rejected that argument. The substituted-service order made on 27 November 2017 had not been appealed and remained in force. The judge also found that the relevant rule set a deadline for service, not for applying to extend the time for service. A separate rule allowed time to be extended even after it had expired.
The second argument concerned the chain of transfers of the loans and associated security. Dineen accepted there was no issue with the transfer from NALM to Promontoria, but argued there was no evidence that the assets had been validly transferred to NAMA or NALM beforehand. He also questioned whether statutory debtor-notification and assignment requirements had been met, and said the uncertainty affected Promontoria’s standing to pursue the proceedings.
The judge held that a certificate in the 2015 transfer deed, issued under section 108 of the National Asset Management Act 2009, was conclusive evidence that the assets had been transferred to NALM in accordance with Part 6 of that Act. She said the court could not go behind the certificate on the basis advanced. Following an earlier High Court analysis, she concluded that the argument did not meet the threshold for an issue to be tried.
The judgment records that Promontoria’s May 2017 demand sought €20,025,705.17. It says the respondent did not pay the sum or any part of it. The decision addressed only the application to dismiss the bankruptcy summons.