Calls for help on debts

Fresh calls have been made for a solution to the consumer debt problem, with new figures showing a 56% year-on-year increase in money awarded to the banks in bad debt court judgments in the first quarter.

According to business and credit risk analyst Vision-net.ie, Irish banks were awarded €52.4m in 86 separate bad debt judgments against consumers during the first three months of this year.

That figure is up by 56% on the same period last year and contrasts with a 22.5% annualised drop — for the same timeframe — in the level of commercial judgments in favour of the banks.