Ireland

Operating a business

Different types of companies	Number of partners/shareholders	Maximum and/or minimum capital	Liabilities	Registration fees
Private Company Limited by Shares (PrC)	Minimum of 2 shareholders and maximum of 50 (excluding employees); no nationality or residency requirements. Single-member companies may also be incorporated.	No minimum amount of share capital.	Right to transfer shares is limited, no shares or debentures may be offered to the public. There are four types of Public company: Private Limited by Share Capital Single Member Private Limited by Capital Limited by Guarantee with Share Capital Unlimited Company
Public Company Limited by Shares (PLC)	Minimum of 7 shareholders; no nationality or residency requirements.	Minimum allotted share capital, €38,092.14; 25% of shares allotted, together with all premiums, must be paid up.	Right to transfer shares is limited. There are three types of Public company: Public Limited Company Public Unlimited Company Guarantee Company without Share Capital

Business setup procedures: The main steps required to set up a company are to complete the requisite forms, verify that the proposed name is not already in use and file a memorandum of association. The requirements of the memorandum of association are set out in the Companies Act 1963. If no articles of association are registered, the provisions of the Companies Act 1963 apply by default.
Articles of association may be company-specific or based on standard sets available from accountancy firms. The memorandum states the name of the company, the limitations on members’ liability, the amount of authorized share capital, and the firm’s objectives or powers. All limited companies must file accounts with the Registrar of Companies for public inspection.
The competent organization: The Irish Companies Registration Office.

Legal weekly duration: 39 hours. More information on the website of the public service.
Retirement age: 65 years
Working contracts: A contract of employment can be verbal or written, or a combination of both. Most contracts of employment are unlimited i.e. they do not specify an end-date. Fixed-term contracts of employment are generally treated the same way as unlimited contracts, except that they are subject to special rules about termination.
There are no special contracts of employment. Most contracts of employment specify a probation period of twelve months. More details on the website of the International Labor Organization.

Minimum wage: The National Minimum Wage Act 2000 provides that the minimum wage rate for an experienced adult employee from 1 July 2007 is €8.65 an hour. Click here.
Average wage: Informations are available on the website of the Central statistics Office of Ireland.
Social contributions: Social security contributions paid by employers: 12 %
Social security contributions paid by employees: 4,5%

Bargaining power: The Irish Congress of Trade Unions is the single umbrella organization for trade unions in Ireland representing a wide range of interests of almost 750,000 working people, both in the Republic and in Northern Ireland.
In 2006 there were 64 unions affiliated to Congress, 48 unions with 543,882 members in the Republic of Ireland and 36 unions with 215,478 members in Northern Ireland.
Unions: Irish Congress of Trade Unions
Unionization rate: Currently, roughly 33% of workers in the private sector are unionized, compared to 95% in the public sector. Among foreign-owned firms, roughly 80% of workers do not belong to unions, although pay and benefits are usually more attractive compared with domestic firms.
Labor regulation bodies: International Labour Market