The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (the Department) has launched a public consultation on proposals to end the practice of public disclosure of the residential addresses of directors and secretaries of Irish companies. The consultation remains open until 5pm on 19 December 2025.
These proposals are welcome. They go some way to addressing the privacy and safety concerns of some company officers, particularly those on the boards of high-profile companies.
The proposals
The Department has proposed changes to the Companies Act 2014 (the 2014 Act) to provide for the following:
- Instead of their “usual residential address”, company directors and secretaries will have the option of providing a “contact address” as their publicly available address. This address will be recorded in the company’s statutory registers and in relevant filings to the Companies Registration Office (the CRO).
- This contact address must be in the State and suitable for service of documents. It could be the officer’s usual residential address, the registered office of the company, or another address as prescribed by the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment.
- This contact address will become the only publicly available address associated with a director or secretary. Companies and the CRO will continue to hold the officer’s usual residential address, but this will be disclosable only to prescribed persons, such law enforcement officials, or upon court order.
- The changes will not have retrospective effect so the “usual residential address” of relevant officers will continue to be available on previous filings with the CRO.
- It is intended to repeal the Companies Act 2014 (Section 150) (No. 2) Regulations 2015 (the 2015 Regulations, discussed further below). Those previously granted an exemption under the 2015 Regulations may continue to use their company's registered office address or another address as their “contact address” but will be required to provide “a usual residential address” to the company, which will also be filed with the CRO (but not available to the public).
Retrospectivity
While the change is welcome, it is notable that the Department does not favour retrospective application of the law (which would allow for the redaction of residential addresses from historical records and filings). Both the Company Law Review Group (the CLRG) and the Department are aligned on this, citing cost and resourcing concerns. In presentations made to the CLRG as part of its review of the law, both the Data Protection Commission and Transparency International Ireland raised concerns regarding the continued availability of residential addresses on historical documents and filings. The Law Society of Ireland also supports the redaction of such records.
Legislative background
Under the 2014 Act, companies must keep a register of directors and secretaries. This register must contain the “usual residential address” of each director and secretary and be made available for inspection to any member of the company and to any other person for a fee. The same residential addresses must also appear on certain company filings with the CRO, such as those related to the appointment or removal of directors. These filings are similarly available to the public for a fee.
Under the 2015 Regulations (mentioned above), companies may apply to omit a director’s residential address from company filings, but only where the individual can demonstrate a risk to their personal safety, which must be supported by a statement from a Garda not below the rank of Chief Superintendent. This regime has been criticised for being overly onerous and for failing to apply retrospectively. The fact that the exemption is automatically cancelled if a home address is inadvertently included on any CRO filing has also been a source of concern.
Next steps
It is hoped that legislation to amend the 2014 Act will be introduced in 2026, once the Department has considered the responses to its consultation. Companies should prepare for what could be quite an onerous administrative task if a number of directors and secretaries wish to avail of the new option, particularly in group company situations. Going forwards, if the law is amended, companies will need to operate a dual recording system – maintaining their usual registers, which are available for public inspection, and a separate, secure register containing their directors’ and secretaries’ residential addresses.
