Company Law

Companies Act 2014

The Companies Act 2014 (‘the 2014 Act’) was enacted on the 23 December 2014 and commenced on 1 June 2015. The Act consolidates the existing Irish Companies Acts dating from 1963 to 2013 and many of the related statutory instruments into a single statute while simultaneously introducing significant reforms to Irish company law.

The commencement, amendments and SIs made under the Act are available here.

The Revised Act which is an administrative consolidation of the Companies Act 2014 is available here.

Other relevant information

The Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation has published summaries and quick guides to the Act which may be useful to members and these are available here.

Pursuant to the Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Act 2021 in July 2022 the Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA) replaced the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement. The CEA is responsible for promoting compliance with, and investigating suspected breaches of, company law. Please click here to go to the CEA website and here for an article which describes the CEA and provides links to information and guides which the CEA has made available on its website.

Please click the links in this paragraph to access  detailed booklets available  relating to responsibilities of different stakeholders under the Companies Acts, including company directors, auditors, liquidators, receivers and examiners, and members and shareholders.

The Companies Registration Office also has a role in enforcing the Companies Acts in relation to company filing requirements. There are a number of information leaflets which are available here and include explanations on matters including company incorporation, the filing of annual returns, audit exemption and requirements for directors.

Other legislation for Ireland is available here.

These pages are provided as resources and information only and nothing in these pages purports to provide professional advice or definitive legal interpretation(s) or opinion(s) on the applicable legislation or legal or other matters referred to in the pages. If the reader is in doubt on any matter in this complex area further legal or other advice must be obtained. While every reasonable care has been taken by the Institute in the preparation of these pages, we do not guarantee the accuracy or veracity of any resource, guidance, information or opinion, or the appropriateness, suitability or applicability of any practice or procedure contained therein. The Institute is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of the resources or information contained in these pages.