Almost 800 people will be discharged from bankruptcy today.
The development is part of efforts to speed-up the resolution of unsustainable debt for personal borrowers after the financial crisis.
The Government recently cut the bankruptcy term to just one year.
The first group of people who availed of the new system will be discharged, meaning they will be debt free and can make a fresh start.
A new system of providing free access to insolvency services has also commenced.
In the second quarter of this year, there has been a 29% increase in applications.
The Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI) has said it will enable more people to find a permanent solution.
However, there are still 35,000 owner-occupier mortgages in arrears of more than two years.
So despite better economic conditions, personal debt remains a persistent problem for thousands of families.
The ISI added while those exiting bankruptcy will be completely debt free, they will have lost all of their assets.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland ISI Director Lorcan O'Connor said the 800 people exiting bankruptcy today will be given a fresh start.
In relation to homeowners in arrears, he said there are alternatives to bankruptcy that give additional protections to the family home.
He said these protections do not exist in the bankruptcy process and people are at risk of losing their homes should they enter this process.
Mr O'Connor said: "There are now four options available, and our legislation and our guidebooks set out which ones are more appropriate for your particular situations.
"But I think what I can say is that between the four solutions that are provided by the Insolvency Service of Ireland, in all and every case a person might be facing, they will be able to find a solution that returns them to solvency."
He said while the number of people still in arrears remains a problem, he said there has been significant progress in dealing with the problem overall with more than 120,000 arrangements reached with people in mortgage difficulties.
Mr O'Connor said the ISI has the capacity to deal with the large number of people in arrears and said he hopes further inroads can be made in reducing the number.
