Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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14. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the primary operational difficulties that have arisen due to failures in the IT system at the Companies Registration Office, CRO, related to the strike-off process; how these difficulties have affected the CRO's management of its obligations to monitor and enforce compliance with statutory filing obligations under the Companies Act 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21290/25]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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25. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the total expenditure to date in 2025 on resolving IT system failures for the Companies Registration Office, including the operational and staffing costs of carrying out the company strike-off process manually since the issue was identified; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21291/25]

Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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We will have time to introduce the question and for one supplementary before the end of this session, if that is okay.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. I wish to ask the Minister about the primary operational difficulties that have arisen due to failures in the IT system in the Companies Registration Office, CRO, related to the strike-off process, and how these difficulties have impacted the CRO's management of its statutory obligations to monitor and enforce that strike-off process.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 and 25 together.

I thank the Deputy for his questions. Companies can be struck off the companies' register on either a voluntary or involuntary basis. Voluntary strike-off is proceeding as normal, with companies meeting the criteria being struck off on an ongoing basis by the Companies Registration Office. Involuntary strike-off by the CRO arises when companies are not meeting the requirements of the Companies Act 2014 with respect to registered directors and the annual filing of returns.

Due to difficulties with the enforcement module of the CRO’s IT system, the CRO suspended its involuntary strike-off programme early in 2024. Involuntary strike-off has since recommenced on a curtailed basis, as the underlying IT issues have still not been fully resolved. The primary operational issues that have arisen as a result of the IT problem are that the involuntary strike-off process currently needs more manual checks put in place than with a fully automated process, and as a result, fewer companies have been struck off.

The CRO continues to monitor companies for compliance with their statutory filing obligations and to enforce filing obligations under the Companies Act 2014. All annual returns filed late are subject to a late filing fee of €100 for the first day and €3 per day thereafter. Where appropriate, a company filing a late annual return also automatically loses its audit exemption. The late filing fee regime is operating as normal and the CRO received a total of €9.7 million in late filing fees during 2024.

The current involuntary strike-off programme is focusing on companies that have no registered directors, which is a breach of the Companies Act. When the programme has been completed, the focus will move to companies that have failed to file annual returns and those that have failed to register beneficial ownership information with the registrar.

The CRO has spent a total of €313,567 to date in 2025 on support and maintenance for its IT system. The sum is in respect of the total cost of support and maintenance for the first quarter of the year for the CRO and also the offices of the Registry of Friendly Societies and the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Companies and Industrial and Provident Societies, and includes the cost of fixing bugs that arise.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I thank the Minister. I am asking about the operational breakdown at the Companies Registration Office and specifically how the failure in the CRO's IT system has undermined the functioning of the company strike-off. We know, and it was confirmed by reporting earlier this year, that the CRO has been forced, due to persistent failures in its IT systems, to resort to manually striking companies off. The Minister has confirmed that, while there is some non-manual processing taking place, manual processing is still taking place, which is not satisfactory. That regression to manual processing is not only inefficient; it is an admission that the system that was put in place at public expense is not delivering on its core function. This has reportedly created a backlog in enforcement actions but it is also eroding legal certainty for businesses trying to comply with their filing obligations.

The CRO currently has a statutory obligation to monitor compliance and initiate strike-offs where companies fail to meet their obligations but that power has to be exercised transparently, fairly and predictably.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I wish to clarify that legal obligations still remain on the part of companies. We received approximately 560,000 submissions last year, so any company that is not complying with the Companies Act will be prosecuted. I want to be very clear on that; their obligations still remain.

Regarding how it happened, as far as I understand, it was noted when the CRO was going through an involuntary strike-off methodology that two or three rounds of strike-offs did not appear in the CRO gazette, which they are obviously obliged to do. That was noticed by the CRO, and then it had to go through them manually, which caused a significant issue and a delay with strike-offs.

I agree with the Deputy. We need to be efficient in this area. I have asked to meet the Companies Registration Office to get more information on the issues at hand but I assure the Deputy we will get to the bottom of it.

Critically, the number of submissions we are receiving through the CRO is at record levels and all obligations and legislative requirements still remain on company directors and their companies, across all the offices of the CRO.