Five indebted farm families have avoided having their farms forcibly sold by vulture funds after having protective certificates approved by the courts, in recent days.

This gives a farmer 70 days protection to allow a personal insolvency arrangement (PIA) – a revised repayment plan –be drawn up by a personal insolvency practitioner and put to the farmer’s creditors.

At stake were a 65ac farm in Wicklow, farms of 110ac and 120ac in Tipperary, a 65ac farm in Longford and a 110ac farm in Meath.

These farmers sought the protective certificates with the help of registered personal insolvency practitioner

PIAs can restructure a borrower’s debt, address arrears, write off debt and restructure the farm loan over a 20- or 30-year period, allowing the farmer repay debt without the threat of losing a farm.

These farmers sought the protective certificates with the help of registered personal insolvency practitioner and farm debt expert Gary Digney, of PKF-FPM Accountants, in Balbriggan, who is himself from a farming family.

Another three farmers are similarly due to go before the courts in the coming days seeking to have protective certificates granted to stop forced sales, he said. Two are in Roscommon, while the other is in Cork.

Historically, the Irish banks were reluctant to forcibly sell a farmer’s land

PIAs were introduced in 2012 and are now starting to be used in farm debt cases. The pillar banks offloaded numbers of non-performing farm loans in 2017/18 and the vulture funds are now looking to finalise these cases.

Digney said some farmers ignore their debt, try to raise finance elsewhere or try to negotiate with the vulture fund.

“Historically, the Irish banks were reluctant to forcibly sell a farmer’s land and would instead restructure a debt. However, so-called vulture funds will issue bankruptcy proceedings to try and recover the debt and will appoint receivers to sell the land. The only way to stop a land sale, and get time to put forward a proposal, is by obtaining a protective certificate at court.”

He has about 40 farm debt cases on hand, he said.