FOI/202500496674 · FOI · unclear
Creditor petitions and Council Tax sequestrations (2023–2025): FOI release
Information requested
1. How many creditor petitions were awarded for sequestration in 2023-2025? 2. How many of these were for council tax arrears? 3, Can you list the local authorities which were granted an award of sequestration from the court? 4. What was the average debt for a council tax creditor petition for sequestration?
Response
1. There were 481 creditor petitions awarded in 2023, and 485 creditor petitions awarded in 2024. The full calendar-year data for 2025 have not yet been published and are due for publication on 21 January 2026. There were 460 creditor petitions awarded in the first three quarters of 2025. Please note that, as the data are published on a financial-quarter basis, the October–December period will be published as 2025–26 Q3 and will be available at Statistical Reporting at AiB | Accountant in Bankruptcy.
2. There were 618 petitions awarded to local councils. Of these, 467 cases were identified as council tax debt. For the remaining 151 cases, the specific type of debt could not be established.
3. A list of local councils is available on Annex A.
4. The total debt owed across the 467 cases identified as council tax debt was £5,860,512.96, with an average debt of £12,933.12. The median (typical) debt level was £11,077.52. Council tax debt is a joint and several liability, and therefore there may be cases where the same debt is recorded more than once.
This information has also been reproduced on Annex A.
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