Directors residential address disclosure requirements

PUBLISHED: 29th June 2020

I am being appointed to the board of an Irish company, do I need to disclose my residential address?

Under the Companies Act 2014, (the “2014 Act”) directors of Irish companies are required to disclose their residential address on the public register.  Ireland is one of the few countries in the European Union which places an onus on directors to make public their full address but what if an individual proposing to be appointed to the board of directors of an Irish company has serious concerns about having to disclose his/her residential address?

There is a little-known mechanism under section 150(11) of the 2014 Act which permits directors, under limited circumstances, to make an application to An Garda Siochána (the Irish police) for a supporting statement that the residential address of the director(s) in question should not be publicly disclosed (the “Supporting Statement”).  The Supporting Statement must come from a member of An Garda Siochána not below the rank of Chief Superintendent and it must accompany a formal application to the Registrar of companies for the non-disclosure of the director’s address.

It is not clear, however, the threshold to be met for the granting of such Supporting Statements, and the applications are usually made on the basis of protecting the personal safety of the director and their family.  Certain businesses will carry a higher degree of risk for their directors such as cash intensive businesses, like cash in transit companies or bookmakers, as well as companies that have a poor environmental record or engage in what some may view as “Socially questionable” activities like animal testing, which some groups in society may object to.

It is important to note the following in respect of these applications.

• A separate application must be made for each company to which the director in question is appointed;
• Residential addresses already on the public register will not be removed;
• The applicant will be responsible for the non-disclosure of the residential address of these directors and must ensure that no subsequent disclosure of their address is made as, once information has been registered with the Companies Registration Office, it cannot be removed.

Where the application is successful, the director’s address will be listed as that of the company’s registered office.

All other relevant information for the director must be supplied, e.g. date of birth and details of other directorships, etc.  The exemption only applies to their usual residential address.

If you require assistance with such an application, or with any other company secretarial matters, our highly experienced Company Secretarial Team is on hand to assist.  Please contact a member of our team:

Colm Hanley at chanley@lkshields.ie

James Carolan at jcarolan@lkshields.ie

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