Insolvency Service of Ireland

What Insolvency Service of Ireland does

The Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI) is a statutory body established under the Personal Insolvency Act 2012, operating as Ireland's official government agency for administering formal debt resolution and bankruptcy proceedings. Headquartered at Smithfield Hall in Dublin 7, the organization is structured into three divisions — Case Management, Legal Services, and Regulation, Policy and Corporate Affairs — led by Director Michael Mc Naughton. It serves insolvent individuals and businesses, creditors seeking recourse, and professional debt advisors requiring authoritative guidance.

The ISI's core service offering comprises four statutory debt solutions: Debt Relief Notices, Debt Settlement Arrangements, Personal Insolvency Arrangements, and Bankruptcy. Supporting these are the public "Back on Track" information portal, official Insolvency Service Registers, Bankruptcy Notices of Adjudication and Notices of Dividend Distribution, and Reasonable Living Expenses Guidelines. Distribution is purely domestic through the Dublin head office and online government channels, with awareness raised via Facebook, LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and YouTube.

The business model is non-commercial: as a government agency, the ISI receives funding through general government expenditure and provides services at no direct cost to eligible applicants. It holds statutory exclusivity over insolvency administration in Ireland, eliminating competitive dynamics in its core mandate. Sub-brands include "Back on Track," positioned as the consumer-facing debt advice resource.

Name

Insolvency Service of Ireland

Legal name

Insolvency Service of Ireland

Website

https://isi.gov.ie

Company type

Public

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Insolvency Service of Ireland is a statutory government body established under the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 that administers formal debt solutions, bankruptcy proceedings, and public insolvency registers for individuals, businesses, creditors, and debt advisors in Ireland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Personal Insolvency and Debt Resolution Services

NAICS

Trust, Fiduciary, and Custody Activities (523991)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Bankruptcy, Insolvency & Restructuring Servicing (Consumer) (FSAKAJAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Credit Counseling & Debt Management Plans (DMP) (FSAKAJAH), Insolvency, Restructuring & Bankruptcy Administration (BPAHABAL), Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Insolvency Law (BPAHAAAH)

Keywords

• Personal insolvency services
• Debt resolution solutions
• Bankruptcy administration
• Statutory debt relief
• Creditor information services

Headquarters

HQ city

Dublin

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Insolvency Service of Ireland administers four statutory debt solutions — Debt Relief Notices, Debt Settlement Arrangements, Personal Insolvency Arrangements, and Bankruptcy — for individuals and businesses unable to repay their debts. It also maintains official public registers of insolvency cases, issues bankruptcy notices of adjudication and dividend distribution, and operates the Back on Track public information portal that helps individuals in financial difficulty understand and access those solutions.

Product overview

The Insolvency Service of Ireland is a government body that provides a suite of services to help individuals manage unmanageable debt. The core offerings include the Back on Track information portal, the Insolvency Service of Ireland Registers (public records of insolvency cases), and access to four formal debt solutions. Supporting resources include publications for debt advisors and creditors, bankruptcy notices, and reasonable living expense guidelines. The organization is structured into divisions including Case Management, Legal Services, and Regulation/Policy, with the Director overseeing operations from the Smithfield Hall headquarters in Dublin.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Back on Track: A government website dedicated to helping individuals who owe money they cannot repay.

Products and services

• Statutory Debt Solutions Four formal statutory insolvency solutions — Debt Relief Notice, Debt Settlement Arrangement, Personal Insolvency Arrangement, and Bankruptcy — available to eligible individuals in Ireland who are unable to pay their debts, administered under the Personal Insolvency Act 2012.
• Insolvency Service of Ireland Registers Public statutory registers containing information about insolvency cases, debt solutions, and related proceedings, accessible to creditors, advisors, and the public.
• Back on Track A dedicated government website (sub-brand of the ISI) that helps individuals who owe money they cannot repay by providing guidance and information on the available debt solutions.
• Bankruptcy Notices of Adjudication and Notices of Dividend Distribution Official notices published by the ISI recording bankruptcy adjudications and the distribution of dividends to creditors in bankruptcy proceedings.
• Reasonable Living Expenses Guidelines Published guidelines establishing what constitutes reasonable living expenses for individuals going through the ISI's insolvency processes.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves4 records

Direct peers

• United States Trustee Program (U.S. DOJ): U.S. Department of Justice component responsible for overseeing the administration of bankruptcy cases and private trustees. Comparable as a government-administered insolvency framework with public-facing register and oversight responsibilities.
• Australian Financial Security Authority: Australian government authority that administers the personal insolvency system, including bankruptcy, debt agreements, and personal insolvency agreements. Operates the National Personal Insolvency Index, a public register comparable to the ISI's insolvency registers.
• Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (Canada): Canadian federal regulator and insolvency administrator that oversees bankruptcy and proposal processes for individuals and businesses. Directly comparable to the ISI in mandate, statutory role, and the use of public registers to record insolvency cases.
• The Insolvency Service (UK): The UK government agency responsible for administering personal and corporate insolvency, with statutory authority analogous to the ISI. Operates a comparable public register, administers bankruptcy and debt relief orders, and provides a clear functional peer for cross-jurisdictional benchmarking.
• Accountant in Bankruptcy (Scotland): Scottish government body that administers the sequestration (bankruptcy) process and the Debt Arrangement and Debt Payment Programmes under the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act. Closely comparable in scale, scope, and statutory-administrator role to the ISI.
• Bundesamt für Justiz (Germany): German federal agency that, among other functions, administers insolvency-related registers and supports the German insolvency framework. Comparable in role as a public administrator of insolvency-related data and proceedings.

Regional players

• Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS): Irish State-funded money advice service that helps indebted individuals explore options including formal insolvency. Comparable as a domestic Irish counterpart in the debt-advice ecosystem, often the upstream referral path to the ISI's debt solutions.

Broad incumbents

• Citizens Advice (UK): UK charity network providing free debt and money advice, including signposting into formal insolvency solutions. Comparable as a publicly-facing debt-advice layer that supports and channels users into the formal insolvency system.
• StepChange Debt Charity: UK charity providing free debt advice and Debt Management Plans. Comparable as a non-governmental debt-advice organization that operates alongside, and feeds cases into, the UK Insolvency Service — the closest UK analogue to how MABS interacts with the ISI.

Peers

• Official Assignee (Singapore):

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/ISIbackontrack
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCzNbOk2JGBCi4dxcAI_Ha-Q
• Facebookfacebook.com/backontrack.ie
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/insolvency-service-of-ireland

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Insolvency Service of Ireland