The High Court has adjudicated a solicitor identified as PMcG bankrupt, after finding no basis to adjourn a creditor’s petition for consideration of a personal insolvency arrangement or to require the Revenue Commissioners to reconsider repayment proposals.
Ms Justice Pilkington delivered the judgment on 2 March 2020. The petition was brought by Michael Gladney in respect of ten judgments dated between February 2011 and March 2016, seeking a total of €347,467.74. The Revenue Commissioners were the debtor’s only creditor in the bankruptcy proceedings.
The parties agreed that the statutory requirements for the petition were met: the debt exceeded €20,000, was a liquidated sum, an act of bankruptcy had occurred within the relevant period, and the debtor was domiciled in Ireland. The court said the issue before it was whether the debtor’s inability to pay could be dealt with more appropriately through a personal insolvency arrangement. A debt settlement arrangement was not available in the circumstances.
The judgment records that the debtor had made proposals based on income from his legal practice. His counsel argued that the Revenue had not properly considered a phased payment application and sought a further review. The Revenue had rejected earlier proposals. It argued that the proposed repayment timetable was unrealistic, given its reliance on projected future practice income.
The debtor disputed the outstanding balance. An affidavit for the petitioner put it at €248,219.88 after crediting €99,247.86 in payments. The debtor relied on a higher repayment figure, and the judge allowed him the benefit of the doubt for the purposes of argument, treating about €130,000 as repaid without deciding what amount could bind the parties later.
The judge noted that the debtor’s only potentially available asset in bankruptcy was a half share in an unencumbered family home, valued at about €400,000; other potential assets were heavily encumbered. She accepted that the Revenue had carefully considered the proposals and found no new matters requiring reconsideration. The court could not use its discretion to oblige the creditor to revisit proposals already considered, she said.
The court declined to direct a fresh Revenue review and found no basis to adjourn the petition for a personal insolvency arrangement. It then made the bankruptcy adjudication. The judgment does not specify the eventual recovery to creditors.