Ireland · Winding up, strike off and restoration
Voluntary strike off, the power to obtain information and restoration to the register
the Companies Act 2014 · sections 729, 731, 735 and 737 to 740
A company can be struck off only if it meets every condition in section 731(1)(a)
Strike off is conditional, and the conditions are cumulative. A company may apply to the Registrar to be struck off only if the circumstances relating to the company are such as to give rise to the position section 731(1)(a) describes, together with the other conditions the subsection lists. A company that applies while a liability or an outstanding filing remains has not met them, and the application will not stand.
Restoration undoes the strike off completely, which is the point most often misunderstood. Subject to a supplementary order made under section 742(c), a company restored is deemed to have continued in existence as if it had not been struck off (section 738(3)). Obligations that accrued during the period of dissolution therefore accrued to a company that is now treated as having existed throughout.
Sections 729 to 735 let the Registrar obtain information from the company and its officers
Sections 729, 731 and 735 govern voluntary strike off, the conditions for it and the Registrar's power to obtain information. The power to obtain information is exercised against the company and its officers, so a strike off application does not close the file on the people behind it.
Sections 737 to 740 govern restoration to the register, the persons who may apply, the periods within which an application may be made and the effect of restoration. The court may make a supplementary order under section 742(c) that qualifies the deemed continuity, so restoration is not always a return to the exact prior position.
The system generates your ComplianceSME company passport and then walks you through the working files
Working files 113 and 114 of the IE-COMPANY agent toolkit cover this situation. Working file 113 works through the strike off application, each condition in section 731(1) and the information the Registrar may require. Working file 114 works through restoration: who applied, on what basis, within what period, what the order provided and what obligations accrued during the period of dissolution.
- Working file 113 · Voluntary strike off and the power to obtain information
- Working file 114 · Restoration of a company to the register
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
Winding up continues with the voluntary routes, the liquidator, the creditors, strike off and restoration
- A members' voluntary winding up and the final dissolution
- A creditors' voluntary winding up and the final meetings
- Realising the assets, the statement of affairs and antecedent transactions
- Paying the creditors: preferential payments and unclaimed dividends
- The liquidator: qualification, appointment, powers and remuneration
- Contributories, the committee of inspection and the court's powers
- Running the winding up: annual meetings, progress reports and offences