CRO enforcement 'shifts into high gear'
Lawyers at Eversheds Sutherland have warned company directors that the Companies Registration Office (CRO) has stepped up enforcement action against non-compliant firms.
The firm says that CRO enforcement activity has "shifted into high gear" one year after the office fully restarted its automated involuntary strike-off process against non-compliant companies.
In a note on the firm's website, its lawyers note that just 506 companies were involuntarily struck off the register in 2025.
"That figure is already 3,000 in 2026 – and the year is far from over," they add.
‘Teetering’
Eversheds Sutherland says that the CRO is now targeting up to 1,000 non-compliant companies a week, as it addresses the outstanding backlog that accumulated because of enforcement being paused in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent IT constraints.
"Over 6,500 companies currently sit on the strike-off list, teetering on the edge of dissolution unless their directors act fast," its lawyers state.
They cite figures from business-intelligence company Search4less showing that the average gap between a company’s last filed annual return and being struck off is just 2.3 years.
'Enforcement landscape has changed'
"Make no mistake: the enforcement landscape in Ireland has fundamentally changed," the Eversheds Sutherland lawyers warn.
"Recent company-law reforms, new regulatory powers, CRO automation, and co-ordinated regulatory activity have created a new reality where compliance is not optional – it is integral to a company’s survival," they state.
The firm warns that directors should not assume that administrative delays or leniency will continue, adding that "the time for proactive review is now".
It urges directors to avoid the reputational, operational, and personal consequences linked to involuntary strike-off.