Examinership, Receivership and Liquidation in Ireland

The collapse of the Irish economy has triggered a substantial increase in the number of companies in Ireland which are being deemed insolvent and which are no longer in a position to continue operating as viable entities. This has caused the companies directors, creditors and shareholders to seek remedies available under Irish law. The law in Ireland regarding companies in financial difficulties was originally set out by the Companies Act 1963, which was amended in 1990, and then again in 1999. All cooperate entities must adhere to the legislation set out under the Act and their individual memorandum of association and articles of association, which together constitute the constitution of a company.

The principal remedies for dealing with insolvent companies are:

1. Examinership;
2. Receivership;
3. Liquidation.

1. The concept of examinership was introduced into Irish law by the Companies (Amendment) Act 1990. This legislation was enacted in order to provide companies which were in financial difficulties with the chance of recovering and thereby avoiding liquidation. An examinership is where the court places a company under its protection to enable a court appointed examiner to assess the affairs of a company and consider whether it is capable of survival, and if so, puts forward proposals that will facilitate that continuation of business. The motivation behind the creation of this legislation was the prevention of the collapse of the Goodman Group. The aim of this legislation was to avoid liquidation of companies with a chance of recovering from financial difficulties. Forde and Kennedy opine that the immediate objective and consequence of the protection created by this legislation is to provide the company or companies in question with extensive immunity against its creditors and against claims being made against it. McCormack in his article “Control and Corporate Rescue” believes that this role was created as a response to changing political and