Ireland · Examinership and the small company rescue process
Examinership: the petition, the independent expert's report and the period of protection
the Companies Act 2014 · sections 510 to 513, 519, 521, 522, 525 to 527 and 529 to 533
Payments and notices after an examinership petition run on 3-day and 7-day deadlines
The filings that follow a petition run on three days, not on the usual fortnight. Notice of the petition in the prescribed form must be delivered by the petitioner to the persons section 531(1) names within 3 days after the date of its presentation. The examiner must deliver a copy of the order of appointment to the Registrar within 3 days after the date of appointment (section 531(4)). A certified copy of an order under section 530(1) or (2) in relation to a security must reach the Registrar within 7 days after the date the order was made (section 530(6)).
During protection, payment is controlled. No payment may be made by the company, during the period it is under the protection of the court, in satisfaction or discharge of the whole or part of a liability incurred before the petition, except as section 521(1) allows. Directors who keep paying trade creditors in the ordinary way during protection are outside the section.
Sections 510 to 533 set out who may petition and what protection permits
Sections 510 to 513 and 519 govern who may petition, what the petition must contain and the independent expert's report that goes with it. Where the company is a Schedule 5 company, section 510(4) applies its own list of persons who may present a petition and the further provisions the subsection sets out.
Sections 521, 522 and 525 to 527 govern the effect of the petition, the repudiation of contracts and the production of documents and records. Sections 529 to 533 govern certified liabilities, charged property, the notifications listed above and the treatment of irregularities. The protection period is a court-supervised moratorium, so the company's own view of what is fair does not displace what the sections permit.
The system generates your ComplianceSME company passport and then walks you through the working files
Working files 79, 80 and 81 of the IE-COMPANY agent toolkit cover this situation. Working file 79 works through the petition and the independent expert's report. Working file 80 works through the effect of the petition, the treatment of pre-petition liabilities, repudiation and the production of documents. Working file 81 works through certified liabilities, charged property, every notification with its date and the treatment of irregularities.
- Working file 79 · Examinership: the petition and the independent expert's report
- Working file 80 · Examinership: effect of the petition, repudiation and production of documents
- Working file 81 · Examinership: certified liabilities, charged property, notification and irregularities
Free, with a free account
The working files above open from your ComplianceSME account at no charge, and so does the rest of the Companies Act 2014 toolkit: 215 working files across the 75 situations a company registered in Ireland can be in. Working file 1 runs first and builds the company passport; after that you open each working file as its situation arises.
A working file runs in Claude. You ask the ComplianceSME connector for it in a dedicated premium seat on the Claude Team plan. It asks one question at a time, then returns the document the Companies Act 2014 names, citing the Act's section at every step. Nothing is downloaded and nothing is installed.
The report stays yours, ready for a bank, an insurer, a customer or an inspector. Your dashboard shows every working file and its state.
Open this working fileComplianceSME tracks the Companies Act 2014 and updates the toolkit on your account through the Compliance Complete account, so that you are never working from a superseded version. Compliance Complete