Steep rise in unpaid company debt

Donegal and Leitrim have seen a rise of over 500% in the number of Court Judgements against companies for the recovery of unpaid debts so far this year.

Nationally there was a 96% increase in value this year compared to the same period in 2008.

So far the amount recouped in the first quarter of this year reached 8.7 million euro.

According to statistics released by ICC Information, Donegal and Leitrim were among four counties which recorded the highest increase in court judgements for unpaid debt.

Cork and Cavan were the other 2 Counties which saw a jump of over 500% on this time last year.

In the first quarter of 2009, Letrim witnessed a 528% rise in the value of court judgements on figures for the same period last year.

The actual value of the judgements stand at 94,226 euro compared to just under 18,000 for the first quarter of 2008.

While in Donegal the actual value saw a sharp increase of 591% with a jump from 12,000 to 71,00 euro in a year.

While Sligo saw a much smaller increase of 71%.

The Construction sector accounted for 20% in value of all Court Judgements in the first quarter of this year followed closely by telecommunications.