23rd September 2025
Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation Niamh Smyth met today with the Chair and Members of the Company Law Review Group.
Minister Smyth met with Paul Egan SC, Chair of the Company Law Review Group and Prof. Irene Lynch Fannon, Chair of its Corporate Insolvency Sub-committee and Salvador Nash, Chair of its Corporate Governance Sub-committee and Ian Drennan, Chair of its Corporate Enforcement Sub-committee.
Welcoming the publication of the Company Law Review Group Annual Report, which includes the current two-year work programme 2024-2026, Minister Smyth said:
“I would like to commend and thank the Company Law Review Group for its ongoing high calibre work, which helps make sure Ireland’s company law regime is kept effective, efficient and contributes to our competitiveness.
94% of the recommendations made by the Group over the last 6 years have been accepted by my Department, which is testament to the high quality of the work the CLRG has delivered.
I welcome the recent publication of the Annual Report for 2024 and look forward considering the Group’s future reports and recommendations.”
Notes to the Editors
- The Company Law Review Group is a statutory body charged with advising the Minister on company law matters. It has representatives from a broad range of stakeholders and includes 30 representatives from the trade unions, business associations, banking and auditing bodies, as well as academics, legal practitioners and insolvency experts. The Department’s Company Law Review Unit provides a secretariat support to the Group. Further information about Company Law Review Group including the Annual Report for 2024 published on 29th May and the current 2024-2026 Work Programme is available at www.clrg.org.
- Paul Egan has been Chair of the CLRG since 2018. He is a Senior Counsel in Mason Hayes and Curran, specialising in public company transactions, corporate governance and regulatory matters.
Irene Lynch Fannon is Chair of the Corporate Insolvency Committee of the CLRG. She was formerly Head of Knowledge Management in Matheson, LLP and formerly Professor of Company Law in University College Cork.
Salvador Nash is the Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee of the CLRG. He is Principal and Head of Company Secretarial in KPMG Law LLP, the largest provider of company secretarial services of any professional firm in the country. - The Group operates to a two-year work programme set by the Minister. The current work programme 2024-2026 is outlined hereunder:
- Consider court appointed inspectors by third parties under the Companies Act in s.747.
- Review the provisions and process pertaining to the disclosure of the director’s residential addresses having regard to company transparency requirements and GDPR.
- Review examinership law in the context of applying optional articles of the Preventative Restructuring Directive (PRD), having regard to developments at domestic, EU and international level.
- Review sections 224 – 233 of the Companies Act 2014 (as amended) for any potential anomalies in the duties directors owe to the company.
- Examine the terms and scope of section 1417 of the Companies Act 2014 pertaining to the recognition of winding up orders made in the U.K.
- Provide on-going advice to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in relation to EU and international proposals on company law.
- Examine and make recommendations on whether it is necessary or desirable to amend company law in line with recent case law and submissions received regarding the Companies Act 2014.
- Review enforcement provisions of company law and if appropriate, make recommendations for change.
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