Entities other than companies

Industrial and provident societies /co-operatives 

Click to go to the Institute web page containing a selection of legislation relating to Industrial and Provident Societies.

Readers may be aware that in recent years the Department of Enterprise Trade & Employment (DETE) has been considering a major overhaul of the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts, the legislation which regulates co-operative societies.In the  Spring legislative Programme 2025 the Irish Government listed the Co-operative Societies bill for priority drafting.

Prior to this,in January 2022 DETE launched a Public Consultation on Reform and Modernisation of Legislation regarding Co-operative Societies. The press release regarding the consultation can be found here.  There had been two previous consultations in 2009 and 2016 (click here for more details of 2016 consultation) and the 2022 consultation outlined a number of issues and asked specific questions to assist DETE prior to finalising legislative proposals, for example on audit exemption and financial statements.

Please click the link for the CCAB-I response to the consultation  You can also click here to read the submissions made to DETE  in February  2022 including the CCAB-I response. DETE issued a paper dated June 2022 which provides an overview of the responses received and the policy approach to the issues raised in the public consultation on proposed legislation regarding co-operative societies launched in January 2022.Readers can access a copy of the paper here .

In November 2022 the Government approved the drafting of what is billed as ground-breaking legislation for the sector. The draft legislation proposes to repeal the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts 1893-2021 and provide a modern and effective legislative framework suitable for the diverse range of organisations using the co-operative model in Ireland. Please click here for more details contained in the press release and here is  a link to the General Scheme of the Co-operative Societies Bill 2022.

The General Scheme of the Co-operative Societies Bill 2022 was referred to the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment on 16 November 2022 for pre-legislative scrutiny by the Committee.Click here for a DETE statement on the pre legislative scrutiny .The Co-operative Societies Bill pre-legislative scrutiny report was published on 3 May 2023. The Committee made twenty-seven recommendations and identified nineteen key issues in the report. Click here for a press release on the report.

Please click here to be brought to  an  article dated January 2023 on the subject of the Co-Operative Societies Bill 2022 written by William Fry LLP solicitors.  and the following link for an article  dated March 2023 by Matheson LLP entitled Co-Operative Societies Bill 2022 From a Financing Perspective which looks at the provisions of the Bill relating to raising finance, providing security and registration of security.

Clubs, societies and other unincorporated associations

Click here for a consultation by the law reform commission on Liability Of Clubs, Societies and Other Unincorporated Associations. The deadline for submissions on the consultation paper to the LRC has been extended to 15 May 2023.

Please click here for an article by Addleshaw Goddard LLP where the author Donal Dunne outlines some of the unintended consequences of the current legal position of unincorporated associations by considering two similar civil cases against unincorporated associations which led to some very different outcomes. He also considers the three alternative models for law reform proposed for consideration by the LRC which all have individual advantages and disadvantages.

By way of update on these cases please click here to read the high court decision of November 2023 Glenn Doyle vs Crumlin Boxing Club And Irish Athletic Boxing Association. There it was held as a preliminary issue in the action, that the club is not protected from being sued because of Mr Doyle’s membership, as his member status has not been established. In that case , even though the plaintiff considered himself to be a member and was treated as such by the club, he did not legally fulfil the membership criteria. He was therefore not a member and as a result, could sue the club. This is because the plaintiff  was not entered on to the register of members, did not enjoy all the member benefits and did not pay a membership fee.

Please click here for an  article by Mason Hayes & Curran LLP including consideration of the pros and cons of unincorporated associations and the various proposed solutions from the law reform commission.

Click here to read an examination of the issues by Tim O’Connor BL entitled “Clubs & Societies: Reform of the issue of liability, and owed to whom?”

Readers can read details of the submission by the Corporate Enforcement Authority (“CEA”) in May 2023 to the LRC. The CEA response is supportive of the proposition that detailed consideration should be given to utilising the ‘existing solution’ referred to in the Paper and extending the applicability of the Company Limited by Guarantee (‘CLG’) regime to address the issues raised with unincorporated associations.

Partnerships,limited partnerships,business names 

Please click for an article in April 2020 edition of Accountancy Ireland on the key impacts of the European Union (Qualifying Partnerships: Accounting and Auditing) Regulations 2019.

Also, click here for a 2024 article by LK Shields Solicitors LLP “Irish Limited Partnerships: Annual Return and Financial Reporting Obligations”

Changes were proposed in 2024 to the law on limited partnerships and business names. Heads of the general scheme for the Miscellaneous Provisions (Registration of Limited Partnerships and Business Names) Bill was published in July 2024  as both the limited partnership and business names legislation require updating to provide for modern business practices for those engaged in business using a business name or the limited partnership model .The Government's 2025 Spring legislative programme indicates that work is ongoing on priority drafting of this legislation.

Click the link to go to our page on prospective changes to company law where you will find information on proposed changes to repeal and replace the Limited Partnership Act ,1907.