Some 499 people were declared bankrupt in 2015 – a 760pc rise on just two years previously.
The figures were contained in the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI) annual report, which was laid before the Oireachtas yesterday.
The Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation said it believed at least 80pc of the bankruptcy cases would have involved people with mortgage debt.
The ISI said the increase was likely due to record numbers of people in financial difficulty as a result of the recession reaching the point where they needed to come to a long-term solution.
Debtors petitioning for their own bankruptcy, rather than being forced into it by a financial institution, accounted for 93pc of total bankruptcies last year.
“The amended bankru…
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