101 Irish companies failed between 1st and 28th January 2013 - an average of 4 companies per day. This figure is down 20% on the same period in 2012.

Our figures show that of the 101 companies that failed, 75 were liquidated, 24 entered receivership and two had an Examiner appointed to them.

A regional breakdown of the figures shows that Dublin accounted for 35% of all insolvencies recorded, with Cork the second highest on 17%.

2,986 Company and Business Start-Ups were recorded during the month (an average of 106 start-ups per day), down 3% on the same period in 2012. 1,810 of these were registered business names with the remainder being incorporated companies.

397 Commercial and Consumer judgments were recorded in December 2012 worth a combined total of €25.3m. 218 of these judgments, worth €22.1m, were awarded against consumers.