The Law Society has been contacted by a number of members about the Register of Insolvencies. The register has been offline since Wednesday this week.

For property transactions that require an Insolvency Search, these will not be able to settle in these circumstances until the register is re-opened.

The agency which runs the register, the Accountant in Bankruptcy, has indicated it is working urgently to restore the service, but is unable to provide an estimate for when it will be back online.

Law Society chief executive Diane McGiffen said: “The timing of this outage is particularly unfortunate for people trying to finalise property transactions before Christmas. We hope this problem can be resolved soon to minimise the disruption.

“A number of solicitors have been in contact with us seeking advice on this issue. We’re advising them to contact all clients who have upcoming settlements as soon as possible to let them know about the potential impact.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and provide further updates to relevant members if that’s appropriate. It’s critical that the impact on clients is minimised without compromising the integrity of the conveyancing process.”

The most up-to-date information on the status of the register can be found on the Accountant in Bankruptcy website.