Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 May 2026
283. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the reason for the tripling in waiting times for A1 company formation relative to its own target of five working days. [32025/26]
View answer284. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the processes that exist within the CRO to expedite urgent and special case A1 applications. [32026/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 283 and 284 together.
An application to the Companies Registration Office (CRO) to incorporate as a company can be made under one of two schemes, namely the Ordinary A1 Online Scheme or the faster Fé Phrainn Scheme.
The Fé Phrainn Scheme targets a turnaround of 5 working days while the Ordinary A1 Online Scheme has a target of 10 working days to provide a Certificate of Incorporation, once relevant documents have been completed and uploaded correctly. Processing times are published on the CRO website on a regular basis.
I understand that there has been a 30% increase in applications for new incorporations to date in 2026, with implications for processing times. However, I have been informed by the Registrar that the situation is being kept under review with additional staff being reassigned from other duties in the CRO to assist with processing applications.
Applications for company incorporations are processed by the CRO in date order to ensure fairness and transparency for all applicants. However, if an application is particularly urgent, a request to expedite an incorporation can be made to the Registrar setting out the reasons for such urgency.
