Under the Companies Act 2014 it is possible for an officer (being a director or secretary) of a company, to apply to be exempt from having their usual residential address appearing on the register, and available to the public for a nominal fee.
The process to avail of this exemption:
1. a request for exemption must be sent to the Registrar of Companies via post, marked “For the Attention of the Registrar” and with the appropriate form T1;
2. the application must be accompanied by a supporting statement from a member of An Garda Síochána not below the rank of Chief Superintendent; and
3. the statement must state that the usual residential address of the officer making the application shall not appear on the register kept by the Registrar for reasons of personal security.
Once the Registrar is satisfied that the officer has complied with the procedure as outlined above, they will then notify the officer that an exemption has been granted.
It should be noted that:
- any officer wishing to apply for an exemption under these regulations will have to make a separate application for each company they are an officer of;
- once granted, the address of the officer will be listed as the address of the company’s registered office.Such an application is not retrospective and shall only be applicable from the date that the exemption is granted (the residential address will still be listed on previously filed forms). This may mean there will be limited take-up by existing directors;
- the inclusion of the usual residential address on any form required by the Registrar (regardless of circumstance) will automatically result in the cancellation of the any exemption granted by the Registrar. Directors and their advisors will need to take care to ensure they do not inadvertently make such a filing; and
- once an officer has been granted an exemption they should notify the company, who will then also remove the usual residential address of the officer from the Register of Directors and Secretaries and Register of Members if applicable. The registered office address of the company will be inserted instead.
