Banks secured court judgments of almost €53 million against struggling customers in the first three months of this year, according to figures from business and credit risk analyst, Vision-net.ie. This is a 56 per cent increase in the value of judgments awarded, compared to the same period in 2014 .

In total, 816 judgments were awarded against consumers in the first three months of 2015, with €52.4 million secured by the banks, €16.8 million secured by the Revenue Commissioners and €1.3 million secured by credit unions.

Further judgments were secured by local authorities, insurance companies and real estate firms. The overall first quarter value of judgments against consumers rose by €24.4 million, up almost 41 per cent on the same period last year.

Although the figure of 816 judgments obtained between January and the end of March is slightly lower than the 839 secured in the same period last year, their average value, indicating that the size of the debt problem for consumers is worsening.

Vision-net managing director Christine Cullen said the amounts being pursued against consumers in this first quarter had increased significantly. "In value terms, banks feature heavily on the list of plaintiffs, suggesting that financial institutions may be accelerating their efforts to clean up their balance sheets by tackling legacy debts."

She said debt forgiveness was something with which the Government and banks were continuing to struggle. “The continuing high level of debt, particularly consumer, which these latest judgment figures reveal, suggests the need for a coherent and feasible policy approach to the problem.

“An expansion of the remit of the Insolvency Service of Ireland is one initiative which could help to address the continuing overhang of consumer and commercial debt.”

The value of judgments against commercial entities, meanwhile, declined, down 27 per cent, from €13.9 million to €10.2 million.

The majority of judgments awarded against commercial entities (62 per cent) were awarded to either the Revenue Commissioners or local authorities. These had a combined value of €2.8 million. Banks secured nine judgments with a combined value of €5.7 million against commercial entities.

In total, 1,061 judgments with a value of €94.5 million were awarded by the courts – 77 per cent (816) were made against consumers, while 23 per cent (245) were against corporate entities.