The Companies Registration Office (CRO) is charged with various statutory functions relating to the incorporation of companies and the registration of business names under the Companies Acts. It is also the responsible body for registration of post-incorporation documents and the filing of relevant specified materials. The CRO has as one of its key objectives the making of information available to the public. This is a task which it has always carried out with considerable zeal. The CRO provides detailed guides to all aspects of company registration on its website.

The CRO website (www.cro.ie) also provides free access to basic company or business name information free of charge. The search result provides the inquirer with basic information such as registered office, company number and lists of company filings. Documents located through this facility may be purchased by account or by credit card.

The CRO account system operates on the lodgement of an amount to the account which is then debited as chargeable search results or document deliveries are requested. There is no set minimum amount to open a CRO account.

The CRO provides details of its databases to a number of commercial providers who also operate subscription services for company information. All offer similar services at relatively competitive prices. The costs quoted are indicative only and the service providers should be contacted directly for full details of costs and account arrangements. The service providers include:

• • CID (Company Information Direct) (www.cid.ie) – company filing information and copy documents. (Searches or documents at variable costs between €2.50 and €5.00 per item).

• • Lawlink (www.lawlink.ie) – company filing information and copy documents (through www.cid.ie). (Searches or documents at variable costs between €2.50 and €5.00 per item).

• • ICC Information (www.iccinformation.ie) – company filing information and copy documents. (Prices on application).

• • Solocheck (www.solocheck.ie) – company filing information and copy documents. (Searches or documents at variable costs between “free to view” and €6.00 per item).

• • Vision Net (www.vision-net.ie) – company filing information and copy documents. (€2.10 per report/document with initial €300 account balance required).

• • Kompass (www.kompass.ie) – general corporate information. (Free access to contact details on companies listed).

The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement is charged with the enforcement of company law provisions. It provides access to a range of detailed overviews on compliance matters through its website (www.odce.ie).

For companies listed on the Irish Stock Exchange, certain details on filings are available on the Irish Stock Exchange website (www.ise.ie).