Company directors could have their home addresses dropped from publicly available accounts and other documents to protect their safety following warnings of threats to multinational executives.
Risks to personal safety have prompted calls to allow politicians, social media performers and others to obscure details of where they live from the public.
Department of Enterprise officials are considering proposals to axe a law requiring company directors and secretaries to include their home addresses on annual accounts and other returns that are publicly available.
The move is partly a response to a warning from solicitors’ body, the Law Society of Ireland, that tech company and multinational executives have been seriously threatened or had their homes intruded.
If passed, the law would allow directors to use their company’s registered address, or another location within the State, instead of their home.
The department is currently taking submissions from the public on the proposal.
A Company Law Review Group (CLRG) recommendation that the law change to “preclude the default public availability” of directors’ usual residential addresses on the Republic’s Register of Companies, sparked the department’s move.
The group took increased public scrutiny of prominent figures into account.
It also considered a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling that bans member states from naming companies’ beneficial owners, that is, individuals who use various legal methods to avoid being named as shareholders on published accounts or returns.
Irish law requires that companies name their directors and include their “usual residential address” on their accounts and returns, which are publicly available.
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Directors can get exemptions from this if they face risks to personal safety or security. Anyone seeking this must get a supporting statement from a Garda chief superintendent or a more senior officer.
The Law Society’s submission on the issue argued that this gave company directors little protection when it was granted, as details already published on the register remained available.
Publication of directors’ personal addresses also raised “potential issues” under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is part of Irish law, the society said.
It said continuing to disclose the addresses of directors who have faced threats or other risks posed a significant risk to their safety.
“The current system with its significant limitations on the exemption makes Ireland an unattractive location for directors of certain companies,” the society said.
However, the CLRG does not recommend cutting address details from existing company documents.
It said that the Companies’ Registration Office, which holds this information, maintained that this would involve millions of documents and huge costs.
Bulk buyers of the office’s material would also have this information, the group said.
OnlyFans creators and social media influencers, who face being named on Revenue tax defaulters’ lists if they fail to pay their taxes, say they fear for their personal safety if their addresses are published, according to tax advisers.
An Coimisiún Toghcháin, the Electoral Commission, recently recommended that candidates be given the choice of putting partial, less detailed addresses on ballot papers to counter risks to themselves and their families.