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Irish Independent
15-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Almost 40,000 companies face strike-off over ownership details
The Companies Registration Office (CRO) now has the power to deal with such firms, and almost 40,000 companies are facing a sanction. The mandatory Register of Beneficial Ownership (RBO) was established under the EU's fourth money laundering directive, commonly known as MLD4. The registers were established across the trading bloc and contain beneficial ownership details of all companies and societies established in each state. The initial deadline for submitting ownership details was in November 2019. Companies and societies that fail to file the required ownership details can be fined up to €500,000. Any person who knowingly or recklessly makes a materially false statement to the RBO can be subject to a prison sentence of up to 12 months. The CRO said that between 10pc and 12pc of companies and societies have failed to file ownership details and will now be at risk of sanction. At a recent stakeholder meeting the CRO declined to specify when it will start the strike-offs for those firms, but confirmed the process is set to get under way shortly. Non-compliant entities will first receive a warning from the RBO, with the CRO then handling any required strike-offs. While thousands of firms have not filed details, just a tiny number have been prosecuted. ADVERTISEMENT The RBO began prosecuting non-complaint entities in the second quarter of 2022. Five companies were charged that year with failing to file the correct details and each was convicted and fined €3,000. Four others pleaded guilty and had the Probation Act applied. The following year, cases against 15 entities were heard in the district court. Eight were convicted, while seven pleaded guilty, and the Probation Act was applied. At its stakeholder meeting last month, the CRO noted that in May of this year, one case was heard and resulted in a conviction. Five cases were due to be heard yesterday. The process for striking off companies due to failure to file ownership details is expected to mirror that used in dealing with entities that have failed to file annual returns on time. Normally, the involuntary strike-off procedure involves a 10-week warning letter issued to a company's email address 180 days after the annual return date. This is followed by an involuntary strike-off notice sent to directors at their home addresses. Public access to the Irish RBO was shut down in 2022 following a controversial ruling by the European Court of Justice. It found public access to such registers was incompatible with business owners' privacy rights enshrined in the General Data Protection Regulation. The public now only has a right to restricted access to the Irish RBO. Just one request was made last year to Ireland's RBO for details of a firm by a person who claimed legitimate interest in doing so. The request was rejected.
Irish Times
19-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
DCU took in nearly €13m from its student accommodation last year
DCU took in €12.92 million from its student accommodation in 2024, down marginally on the €12.97 million made the year prior. The figures, reported by a subsidiary of the university to the Companies Registration Office , bring the total income generated by Irish universities from student accommodation to €126 million for the year. An analysis of the financial accounts for Ireland's main universities by The Irish Times showed the income from student accommodation has nearly doubled since 2015 as third-level institutions have hiked fees and invested in new accommodation blocks. Universities made €117.6 million from student accommodation in 2023. Excluding Dublin City University, which had not published its consolidated accounts, the figure for 2024 stood at €113.5 million made from their residences. READ MORE [ Minister wants exemptions to new rent rules to be considered for students sharing houses Opens in new window ] The publication of the accounts for the north-Dublin college's holding company subsidiary, DCU Educational Supports DAC shows that the sector-wide figure broke €120 million for the first time. The company operates the renting out of student residences on DCU campuses, runs language and translation services, and a series of other commercial services for the university. Its accounts show that DCU pocketed €12.92 million from their student accommodation in the year to September 2024. A spokesman for DCU said a significant portion of the revenue from its student residences is generated 'during the summer months, when undergraduate beds are not occupied, when we charge full commercial rates' to visiting students, academics and tourists. The college is planning to add an additional 405 new beds aided by Government funding. This came after plans to construct 1,240 beds had to be paused and eventually scaled back due to what, DCU chief operations officer, Declan Raftery described as 'escalating costs of construction' resulting in the development 'simply not being viable in the absence of support from Government'. Income at the university-owned company increased to €51.5 million in 2024, up 2 per cent from a year earlier. Costs of sales decreased by more than €850,000 to €16.37 million, but the savings were absorbed by significantly higher administrative costs which rose €3 million to €30.07 million. As a result, the company saw profits drop slightly from €4.17 million to €3.57 million. The main income sources for the company are DCU's student residences, which accounts for a quarter of its income, as well as English language teaching and translation services – €9 million, and construction services transfers of €8.8 million. The company reported income of €5.6 million from its catering services. Staff costs rose last year to €10.8 million, and the company made a donation to its parent company, Dublin City University, of €1,29 million in the year ending September 2024, having made a slightly larger the year prior, of €1.55 million.
BreakingNews.ie
18-06-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Challenge to Islamic centre board strongly disputed, court hears
A High Court challenge to a change in membership of the board of the company running the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland is being strongly disputed, a judge has been told. A dispute over control of the Al Maktoum Foundation CLG, which owns the centre in Clonskeagh, Dublin, reached the court last month when Mr Justice Brian Cregan was told it had arisen out of the alleged unlawful appointment of new directors to the foundation company. Advertisement The court previously heard that the mosque and school at the centre have closed. Dr Abdel Basset Elsayed, a Meath-based medical consultant who says he has been a director of the company since 2012, brought the challenge claiming the purported appointments of four new directors was invalid and did not follow the requirements of the company's constitution. He sought orders from the court requiring the Companies Registration Office (CRO) to rectify its register by removing the allegedly unlawfully appointed members and restraining the new directors from performing any duties or representing themselves as directors of the company. The other directors are notice parties in the case. Advertisement On Wednesday, when the case returned before the court, Lyndon MacCann SC, for the Al Maktoum Foundation, said Dr Elsayed purports to be a director, but counsel said his side says he is not. Counsel said his instructing solicitors "have at all times" been the solicitors for the company, and he was instructed by people who say they are the directors, and they will be resisting Dr Elsayed's applications. Mr MacCann said he wanted time to reply to a new application for an injunction seeking to prevent the company from acting pending determination of the dispute. His side was also disputing that Joseph Sallabi BL, who told the court he has a contract as in-house counsel with the Al Maktoum Foundation, was in fact in-house counsel. They were also saying that, even if they accepted Dr Elsayed was a director, which they say he is not, he had called a board meeting without notice to the other directors, counsel said. Advertisement Mr MacCann said as a lot of his deponents are based in the United Arab Emirates, he would need at least two weeks to put in a response to the latest application. Mr Justice Cregan said it appeared to be a matter of some urgency as the mosque and school are closed. Mr Sallabi agreed it was a matter of some urgency. The judge adjourned the case to next month.
Irish Times
17-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Low start-up costs a ‘key factor' behind surge in new Irish companies
Ireland saw a surge in new business registrations last year, a phenomenon likely related to the low cost of starting a company here, digital bank Bunq has said. The Dutch-registered fintech conducted a study of start-up costs across the ten countries with the highest gross domestic product in the European Union. Bunq found that while Greece and Portugal have the lowest financial barriers to starting a business in the sample of countries at €287 and €751, the Republic is 'competitive' with start-up costs €808.17. The initial costs associated with setting up a new business relate to notary fees, the cost of tax advice for entry into commercial registers and fees for registering the business with the relevant statutory body and setting up a company bank account. READ MORE In Germany – where start-up costs for limited liability companies stand at around €26,266, according to Bunq – companies also have to comply with high mandatory capital requirements, raising business set-up costs. Here, the mandatory capital requirement is just €1, while the Companies Registration Office (CRO) charges a 'nominal fee' of €50 to register a new business, the fintech said. Bunq said the Republic also compared favourably with other countries due to the relatively low cost of essential tax advice, which it calculated at €750 for 15 hours. This sits 'well below' countries like France and Austria, where essential tax advice costs €3,300 and €3,000 respectively. Ireland's statutory 12.5 per cent rate of corporation tax also offers an 'unbeatable' advantage. Citing CRO figures, Bunq said some 23,384 new businesses of all types were established in 2024, up 5.5 per cent from 2023. Last year was 'the second busiest year for new business registrations in over a decade', Bunq said. 'Only 2021, right after the pandemic, saw more.' A 'key factor' in this low financial barriers to establishing a business
RTÉ News
10-06-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
TD's property firm records over €840k profit over two years
Minister of State Michael Healy Rae's property management firm, linked to the Kerry TD's Rosemont guesthouse accommodating Ukrainian citizens, has recorded combined profits of €841,908 over a two-year period, new accounts show. That is according to new accounts filed by Minister Healy Rae's Roughty Properties Ltd which show that the company recorded post tax profits of €376,048 in the 12 months to the end of May 2024. The filing of the accounts comes days after Minister Healy Rae's Roughty Properties Ltd lodged accounts at the Companies Registration Office last week which showed that it recorded a €465,860 post tax profit in its first year in operation from the date of incorporation for the 12 month 23 day period from 9 May 2022 to 31 May 2023. The profits for the two periods add up to a combined €841,908 post tax profit- the accounts are abridged and don't provide a revenue figure. Cash funds at the company last year increased from €555,933 to €718,046. The company also strengthened its balance sheet during the year with the addition of a fixed asset which has a book value of €204,519. Minister Healy Rae owns 100% of the share capital of the company. Under the heading of directors' loans, a note states that at the end of May 2024, "there were no loans, quasi loan, credit transactions or guarantees for and on behalf of the directors". The Kerry TD's entry in the Dáil Register of Members' Interests states that the main activity of Roughty Properties Ltd is "management of rental properties". In the register, Minister Healy Rae describes himself as an owner of rental properties and his entry lists 17 separate properties for letting including 14 houses. Separate figures published by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth show that Minister Healy Rae's Rosemont House in Tralee has received €1.22m over two years and three months to the end of December last. In 2022, Kerry County Council refused planning permission to Minister Healy Rae's Roughty Properties Ltd's planning application for a three-storey extension to expand guest capacity at Rosemont Guest House. The Roughty property firm is now Minister Healy Rae's most profitable enterprise with the accounts showing two years of strong profits. Separate accounts filed earlier this year by Minister Healy Rae's plant hire firm, Roughty Plant Hire Ltd show that its accumulated profits increased by €74,887 from €734,024 to €808,911 in the 12 months to the end of April 2024. Accounts for another Michael Healy Rae firm which operates a fuel station and grocery shop in Kilgarvan show that it recorded post tax losses of €26,986 last year. Deputy Healy-Rae's entry to the Dáil's members' register of interests lists his other occupations as postmaster, farmer, service station owner and owner of rental properties. The Kerry deputy also has shares in the New York Times.
