I do think that David Hall and the IMHO have done a fantastic job in promoting themselves as being "open for business". This has all been done on a shoe string budget, a handful of staff and buckets of common sense and intelligence. David Hall
has to be commended for forging workable alliances with the banks, the debtors and now even PIPs. Is this not what a properly functioning insolvency service should be doing ?
This is in sharp contrast to the ISI , having an annual budget / cost base of 7.2 million euro and currently employing 89 people. The ISI had projected that it would be processing 15,000 cases per year but so far (according to unofficial reports) has only managed to conclude 10 !!! This is a dramatic failure by any stretch of the imagination. The ISI has made several weak attempts to justify its existence and so far has declined to give any meaningful statistics about its progress.. Formal arrangements do have a place but clearly only a handful of staff are needed for this and an annual budget of maybe 300,000. What a total waste of taxpayers money this is and will continue to be until someone cries halt.
I believe that some of this 7.2 million euro budget needs to be diverted away from the ISI as soon as possible to where it is really needed and where it will be most effective in sorting out the insolvency challenges facing us. Hopefully the next Justice Minister will address this as a matter of urgency