The Institute of Credit Management has called for the abolition of the Revenue Commissioners' preferential status in liquidations which allows it to reclaim debts ahead of unsecured creditors.

The Institute says it should be removed entirely or the period of preferential status should be reduced to three months.

In its submission to a review group established to examine the practices of the Revenue Commissioners, the Institute said it was a matter of great concern that the Revenue enjoyed preferential status for amounts due for the previous 12 months.

The submission criticised the Revenue for not being "sufficiently pro-active" in pursuing payments of their debt, with the result that the Revenue was often the largest creditor of insolvent companies.

The Institute said Revenue debt is trading debt arising from the normal trading activities of a company and should be treated in the same way as debts due to its members.