Irish Company law centres on the Companies Act 1963. The first comprehensive revision of the law was implemented by the Companies Act 1990. Between 1963 and 1990, there was unease over the number of ‘phoenix’ companies in existence. There was a perception that directors put their companies into liquidation and immediately started a replica business using a new limited company. To counteract this, the Government introduced the concept of restricting directors. Since 1990, if a company goes into insolvent liquidation, the directors are liable to be ‘restricted’ by order of the High Court.
A restriction order means that the relevant director is restricted from acting as a director of any company for a maximum of five years. The restriction can be overcome by the new company having a minimum paid up share capital of e63,500 (£39,100). This must be paid up in cash.
