COURT JUDGMENTS seeking the payment of debt almost doubled in the first three months of the year compared with the same period last year, according to the credit-rating organisation ICC.

Figures released by ICC Information showed that court judgments, seeking the payment of unpaid debt against companies in Ireland reached €8.7 million in the first quarter of 2009, an increase of 96 per cent on the same period last year.

This is despite the fact that the number of judgments decreased from 369 in the first quarter of 2008 to 286 for the same period this year.

The construction industry accounted for 20 per cent of the judgments in the period, followed by telecommunications and business activities, each representing 17 per cent of the total.

However, the scale of judgments against telecommunications companies increased dramatically over the same period last year, rising in value from €11,810 to €1,478,833, which represents a 125-fold increase.

The size of judgments against manufacturing companies more than trebled, reaching €1 million.

Almost 40 per cent of all judgments came in Dublin, followed by Cork with 15 per cent and Limerick with 13 per cent.

The counties showing the biggest increase in the problem of unpaid debt leading to court action were Donegal, Cork, Leitrim and Cavan, all of which saw a more than five-fold increase in such actions between 2008 and 2009. In Dublin, the value of such judgments almost trebled between 2008 and 2009.

However, there was a big variation in the values of the judgments, with Munster representing nearly €3 million of the €8.7 million, again almost trebling the figure for the first quarter of 2008. While Leinster and Ulster also saw increases, Connacht actually saw a significant drop in both the number and value of judgments for the same period.

Michael Gannon, head of business and account development at ICC Information, said that judgments against companies are a useful barometer of corporate financial health, and a leading indicator of insolvencies.