Irish Companies now have to add their Company Registration Details on website & Email footer

Is your Irish Web Site Legal ~ updated September 2021

Companies Incorporated under the Companies Act 2014

Every company is required to paint or affix, and keep painted or affixed, its name on the outside of every office or place in which its business is carried on, in a conspicuous position, in letters which are easy to read. The company name in legible characters must be shown in all notices and other official publications of the company and in all bills of exchange, promissory notes, endorsements, cheques and orders purporting to be signed by or on behalf of the company and in all invoices, receipts and letters of credit of the company.

The following particulars must be shown on all business letters of a company;

• the full name of the company (note that the only permissable abbreviations are “Ltd” for “Limited” , “Teo” for “Teoranta”, “Plc” for “Public Limited Company” etc.)
• the forename (or initials) and surnames and any former forenames and surnames of the directors and their nationality, if not Irish.

Websites

Every limited liability company which has a website is also required to display either on its homepage or to be identified on its homepage, a readily accessible webpage on which the following appear:

• the name and legal form of the company
• the place of registration of the company and the number with which it is registered
• the address of the registered office of the company
• in the case of a company exempt from the obligation to use the company type (Companies Limited by Guarantee/Designated Activity Companies) as part of its name, the fact that it is such a company.
• in the case of a company which is being wound up, the fact that it is being wound up
• if the share capital of a company is mentioned on the website, the reference must be to the paid-up share capital

For further information, please see Information Leaflet 7, regarding exceptions, Foreign Companies and Business Names.

Letters & Emails

The following additional particulars must be shown on letters and are also required to appear on order forms of limited liability companies, whether they are in paper form or any other medium (such as email or faxes);

• the legal form of the company
• place of registration and registered number (as per certificate of incorporation), eg. registered in Dublin, Ireland
• address of the registered office (where this is already shown on the document, the fact that it is the registered office must be indicated).
• in the case of a company exempt from the obligation to use the use the company type (Companies Limited by Guarantee/Designated Activity Companies) as part of its name, the fact that it is such a company.
• in the case of a company which is being wound up, the fact that it is so
• if the share capital of a company is mentioned on letterheads or order forms of a company, the reference must be to the paid up share capital.

These particulars apply only to business letters and order forms and do not need to be included on delivery notes or invoices.

All details can be found on CRO website here

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From April 1st 2007, if you are a limited company there are specific details which must be included on your website. These details are the same as the ones you must already legally display on your traditional correspondence such as letterheads and invoices. From April 2007, these legal requirements extend to Irish Websites and E-Mails. Non-compliance can be very costly with a range of fines.

You need to include:

• The place of registration of the company, the number with which it is registered and the address of its registered office
• In the case of a company exempt from the obligation to use the word “limited” or “teoranta” as part of its name, the fact that it is a limited company
• In the case of a company which is being wound up, the fact that it is being wound up
• If there is reference to the share capital of the company on any page of the website, the reference shall be to the paid-up share capital

These need to be included on the following pages:

• On the `about us` page as a minimum or on the footer of each page if you prefer, we recommend the footer include at a bare minimum your physical address and contact details
• In all your email correspondence, so if you don`t already use a footer or signature on your emails this is the time to start!

If you are not a limited company, please don`t forget that the Office of Data Protection requirement is that all websites require a privacy statement if they collect personal information such as an email address on a contact form, or cookies used for web statistics.