The services industry continued to suffer with another 25 companies becoming insolvent in November - up from 22 in October. This brings the total number of insolvencies in the service industry to 253 this year, second only to the construction industry where there were 394 insolvencies to date in 2009.

The motor trade's woes also continued with the number of companies declared insolvent in the industry jumping from one in October to six in November. The figures will no doubt strengthen the Society of the Irish Motor Industry's argument for the introduction of a scrappage scheme in the December budget.

The total number of examinerships stayed the same with only two companies applying for court protection in November. This suggests that companies may be wary about the examinership process following the Zoe Group's unsuccessful examinership bid in September.

November also saw a slight decrease in the number of insolvencies through receiverships, with the volume of receiverships down 45pc from the year high of 22 in February. Commenting on the research, Ken Fennell, partner, Kavanagh Fennell, said, "The figures are down 23pc on the year high of 151 insolvencies recorded in July, but there has been a small increase in insolvencies in the past three months which is not surprising as there is usually a peak in insolvencies in the last quarter. The overall picture for 2009 remains bleak with a total of 1,326 firms declared insolvent so far this year. The average rate of monthly insolvencies stands at 121 companies per month. Should this continue, the total number of insolvencies will exceed our own predicted figure of 1,400 insolvencies this year."