IRELAND Doing Business in the European Union 2020: Greece, Ireland and Italy Comparing Business Regulation for  Domestic Firms in 24 Cities in Greece, Ireland and Italy  with 187 Other Economies © 2019 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000; Internet: www.worldbank.org Some rights reserved 1 2 3 4 19 18 17 16 This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. 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Doing Business in IRELAND Galway Dublin Limerick Waterford Cork ii DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY Contents Main findings.................................................................................................................................................................................. 1 Each city stands out in some areas and lags in others .....................................................................................................................................1 Variation on specific indicators shows Irish cities have opportunities to learn from good practices within the country ............1 The way forward.............................................................................................................................................................................3 Adopting domestic good practices would improve Ireland’s standing on the global rankings by nine places................................3 In the long run, Irish cities can look for good practices outside the country to further improve their business regulations.......3 1. Starting a Business ................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Starting a business in Ireland costs less and is simpler than the EU average............................................................................................6 Starting a business in Ireland takes only three steps........................................................................................................................................6 VAT registration remains a bottleneck that drives Irish cities’ variation on the time to start a business indicator ......................7 What can be improved?...............................................................................................................................................................................8 2. Dealing with Construction Permits..........................................................................................................................................10 Ireland’s performance in dealing with construction permits is better than the EU average...............................................................10 Despite the same national legal framework, requirements vary across Irish cities...............................................................................10 Dealing with construction permits is easiest and fastest in Waterford .................................................................................................... 11 What can be improved?............................................................................................................................................................................. 13 3. Getting Electricity.....................................................................................................................................................................16 Obtaining electricity in Ireland takes less time and costs less than the EU average............................................................................. 16 How does the process work within the country?............................................................................................................................................. 16 Cork and Dublin lead the rankings on the ease of getting electricity......................................................................................................... 17 What can be improved?............................................................................................................................................................................. 18 4. Registering Property................................................................................................................................................................ 21 The Property Registration Authority was established to finalize the registration of property titles across Ireland..................... 21 Registering property in Ireland costs more and is less efficient than the EU average ......................................................................... 22 Galway leads the rankings on registering property........................................................................................................................................ 22 What can be improved?............................................................................................................................................................................ 24 5. Enforcing Contracts................................................................................................................................................................. 26 On average, Irish cities lag their EU peers on measures of efficiency and the quality of judicial processes................................. 26 Contract ligation processes in the High Court are largely the same throughout Ireland.................................................................... 26 Irish cities show variations in time and cost to resolve a commercial contract dispute, but judicial quality is uniform........... 27 What can be improved?............................................................................................................................................................................. 31 City Snapshots and Indicator Details......................................................................................................................................... 36 Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................................................................ 51 DOING BUSINESS IN IRELAND 1 I reland was one of the EU member multinationals may relocate their supply Cork ranks high on getting electricity, as states most significantly impacted by chains elsewhere. well, providing efficient electricity con- the financial crisis but also one of the nections and reliable electricity supply. fastest to recover. The country’s growth Ireland, as represented by Dublin, has However, the city lags behind the other in gross domestic product has led the consistently outperformed most of its Irish cities in dealing with construction European Union for the past five years.1 European Union peers in the ease of permits and registering property. Dublin, Currently, the country is at almost full doing business, ranking among the top 25 despite being the city with the heaviest employment. Its unemployment rate has economies globally in the World Bank’s workload across all areas, performs well steadily decreased while wages continue Doing Business report for several years.6 on three indicators: getting electric- to increase.2 Despite its already good performance, ity, starting a business and enforcing the country has consistently kept improv- contracts. Limerick does not lead on any Ireland’s solid macroeconomic founda- ing over the past decade by introducing indicators but ranks second in two out tion received a significant boost from reforms in 6 of the 11 areas measured of the five. Galway is the most efficient multinational companies, which have in Doing Business: starting a business, Irish city in which to start a business, and, been attracted by the country’s business registering property, employing workers, regarding the registering property indica- environment, in particular its tax regime. getting credit, enforcing contracts and tor, Galway excels both in efficiency and The majority of the multinationals in protecting minority investors.7 quality of land administration. However, the country are foreign-owned. They Galway lags behind the other cities in constitute a small number of companies This report aims to fill some of the gaps getting electricity and enforcing con- relative to the total, but they account in what is known about the quality and tracts. Even Waterford, while it ranks for more than half of the total yearly features of business regulations in Ireland lower on most indicators, has a clear turnover.3 The rest of the turnover is by creating regional level data that performance strength: it leads in dealing generated by small and medium-size can be used to analyze the regulatory with construction permits, which are enterprises, the majority of which are hurdles entrepreneurs face in five main inexpensive and can be obtained quickly domestically owned. Small and medium- cities: Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick in the city. size enterprises constitute 99.8% of the and Waterford. The report also lists total number of firms in Ireland and are recommendations for reforms and good Variation on specific indicators responsible for about 70% of employ- practices in each of the five areas mea- shows Irish cities have ment.4 Furthermore, domestically-owned sured that Irish cities can adopt to allow opportunities to learn from good enterprises generate about 80% of total businesses to operate more effectively. practices within the country employment.5 Therefore, examining The fact that regulations and how they business regulations through the Doing are implemented vary amongst the Business indicators, as they apply to MAIN FINDINGS cities is clear from the cities’ divergent domestic firms, becomes increasingly scores on each indicator (figure 3.1). relevant given their importance for the Each city stands out in some These disparities in performance can country’s economy in the long run. In the areas and lags in others help policymakers identify which cities end, circumstances in the world economy No single city dominates in all five areas have good practices that other cities can change for reasons beyond the con- measured (table 3.1). Cork, by far, is the can adopt. All Irish cities operate under trol of the country’s government, and city that most quickly enforces contracts. the same national legal framework, so TABLE 3.1  No city dominates across the five areas measured Dealing with Starting a business construction permits Getting electricity Registering property Enforcing contracts Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score City (1–5) (0–100) (1–5) (0–100) (1–5) (0–100) (1–5) (0–100) (1–5) (0–100) Cork 3 93.90 5 74.37 2 84.17 4 69.91 1 61.59 Dublin 2 94.40 4 76.58 1 84.21 3 71.71 2 57.88 Galway 1 94.91 3 78.59 5 80.83 1 73.02 4 56.41 Limerick 3 93.90 2 78.69 3 83.95 2 72.78 5 55.40 Waterford 3 93.90 1 80.57 4 81.37 5 69.32 3 57.57 Source: Doing Business database. Note: The indicator scores show how far a location is from the best performance achieved by any economy on each Doing Business indicator. The scores are normalized to range from 0 to 100 (the higher the score, the better). For more details, see the chapter “About Doing Business and Doing Business in the European Union 2020: Greece, Ireland and Italy.” 2 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY Dealing with construction permits is FIGURE 3.1  There is significant variation in regulatory performance among Irish cities in all areas measured, except starting a business one of the areas where local authorities have a high degree of autonomy in both Score (0–100) implementing national regulations and setting development contribution fees. Starting a Dealing with Getting Registering Enforcing business construction electricity property contracts Unsurprisingly, it is one of the study permits 100 areas with the greatest variation in EU best (Greece) EU best performance across the five cities bench- (Germany) EU best Galway (Lithuania) marked. Waterford, the most efficient 3 cities* city, scores 80.57 points on the ease of EU best 90 (Denmark) dealing with construction permits, well EU average above the EU average, and would rank 23 Dublin in the standings globally. The time to deal Waterford EU best with construction permits varies from (Lithuania) 80 Galway about five months in Waterford to almost seven months in Cork. Driving this varia- Cork tion, in part, is that it takes longer in some Galway cities to obtain a water and sewerage 70 connection and to have the preplanning Waterford meeting with the local planning depart- ment required before filing for planning Cork permission. The cost of dealing with 60 construction permits ranges from 1.1% of the warehouse value in Galway to almost Limerick four times that in Dublin. The main driver of this variation is the development 50 contribution fee, set independently by each city council. This fee constitutes, on average, about 80% of the total cost to 0 complete construction permitting. Highest score in country Lowest score in country Country average The cities show variations on the ease of getting electricity. Dublin and Cork score Source: Doing Business database. highest in terms of the ease of getting Note: The score shows how far a location is from the best performance achieved by any economy on each Doing electricity, with 84.21 points and 84.17 Business indicator. The score is normalized to range from 0 to 100, with 100 representing the frontier of best practices (the higher the score, the better). The averages for Ireland are based on data for the five cities benchmarked in the points, respectively, both above the EU country. Other EU member states are represented by their capital city as measured by global Doing Business. The average. Limerick follows closely, while averages for the European Union are based on economy-level data for the 28 EU member states. For more details, see the chapter “About Doing Business and Doing Business in the European Union 2020: Greece, Ireland, Italy.” both Galway and Waterford are the only *Cork, Limerick and Waterford. Irish cities below the EU average. Dublin scores highly due to its more stream- changes can be made without major Irish entrepreneurs complete merely lined requirements. It is the only Irish legislative overhaul. In other words, three procedures to start a business, the city where entrepreneurs do not deal local policymakers can look to other fewest in the European Union. However, with road-opening licenses. Instead, the cities to see how they implement the registering for value added tax (VAT) Electrical Supply Board, the main electric- national law more efficiently and to remains a relative bottleneck and a ity company in the country, handles the better effect. As the results show, each source of variation among the cities. procedure on their behalf. On the other city has something to teach and some- Entrepreneurs can start a business fast- hand, of the five cities, it takes longest in thing to learn. est in Galway, where it takes nine days. Dublin to get a connection because they In Cork, Limerick and Waterford, it takes receive a much higher volume of applica- For example, in terms of starting a busi- almost two weeks. Overall, starting a tions. Getting a connection takes less ness, all cities benefit from Ireland’s low business is one of the areas in which all time in Cork, one of the cities that also incorporation cost (0.1% of income per five Irish cities outscore the EU average receives the most points on the reliabil- capita) and a streamlined process. Also, and most EU member states. ity of supply and transparency of tariffs DOING BUSINESS IN IRELAND 3 index. Waterford is equally fast at provid- Irish cities to enforce contracts than it is, If Galway’s score on the starting-a- ing electrical connections, but customers on average, in the European Union due to business indicator was substituted for there face the longest and most frequent higher litigation costs. Dublin’s as the representative score power outages among the five cities. for Ireland (starting up in Galway takes two fewer days than in Dublin), then The cities vary in performance on the THE WAY FORWARD the country would improve its rank on registering property indicator, as well. starting a business by six places, from Property registration has been in transi- Irish authorities have exceled in attracting 23 to 17. Similarly, in terms of registering tion for a long time in Ireland due to the multinationals and boosting the country’s property, a hypothetical representative conversion of the system for recording economy. Nevertheless, making the busi- Irish city that combined the efficiency deeds to a title-based one. Currently ness environment more conducive to levels of Dublin with the quality of land that process, and the registration of titles domestically owned small and medium- administration index scores of Galway with the Property Registration Authority size enterprises should continue to be a and Limerick would place the country at (PRA), is incomplete to various degrees priority for local and national authorities. a ranking of 52 out of 190 globally, eight in the cities benchmarked in this study. This report identifies areas in which places higher than its current rank. Galway leads the way with one of the authorities can further reduce the cost fastest times to process a property reg- of doing business for local firms, thereby Regarding the other three indicators istration in the country, 34.5 days, and providing additional opportunities not areas, creating a hypothetical score for the highest score on the quality of land only for their domestic growth but for Ireland based on the highest performing administration index, 25.5 out of 30 their eventual ability to compete in the city’s best score on each sub-indicator points. Dublin, although the busiest city global economy. The reform recommen- would have an even larger impact. in the country, is nevertheless the fastest, dations included here are based on both Combining the streamlined electric- at 31.5 days. However, Dublin lags behind local and international good practices ity connection process of Dublin, for Galway with a score of 23.5 points on (table 3.2). example, with the speed of Waterford the quality of land administration index. and the high performance on the reli- Property registration takes the longest in Adopting domestic good ability of supply and transparency of Waterford, at 51.5 days. Local authorities practices would improve tariffs index of three8 of the five cities there are slower to provide documenta- Ireland’s standing on the global would lift Ireland to a global ranking tion for the planning search, a standard rankings by nine places of 26 out of 190, which is 21 places due diligence process conducted by In the short term, easily replicable local higher than Ireland’s current rank of transacting parties for every property practices can be implemented, where 47. A hypothetical city representing transfer. Additionally, the PRA office in applicable. Local authorities and local Ireland in the rankings that issued a Waterford is the slowest of the three offices of central agencies can use the building permit, as well as the fire and offices serving the country (the other two results of the report to learn what their disability access certificate, as quickly are in Dublin and Roscommon). better-performing peers are doing and as Waterford, but at Galway’s low cost take necessary steps to close the gaps. (1.1% of the warehouse value) would Enforcing contracts is another area where Although these changes might merely tremendously impact Ireland’s score the cities demonstrate significant varia- include administrative improvements, on dealing with construction permits, tion. Cork leads the way with an overall they could make a big difference. In fact, raising the country’s global ranking on ease-of-enforcing-contracts score of local-level reforms would not only impact that indicator from 36 to 22. In the study 61.59 points, while the rest of the cities standings of the Irish cities vis-à-vis each area enforcing contracts, adopting the range between 55.40 (Limerick) and other, they could make a difference on the efficiency of Cork with the lower cost of 57.88 (Dublin) points. It takes the least global scale. Ireland, as represented by Galway would place Ireland at 68 in the time in Cork to enforce contracts through Dublin, ranked 24 out of 190 economies global rankings, 23 places higher than its the High Court. Cork is also the sole Irish in Doing Business 2020. If one creates an current rank of 91. city to outperform the EU average in this overall ease of doing business score for area. Overall, all five Irish cities studied lag Ireland based on the highest score of the In the long run, Irish cities can behind the EU average on the enforcing best performing city on each indicator look for good practices outside contracts indicator, leaving much room for benchmarked, Ireland’s ranking would the country to further improve improvement. Most notably, the Irish cit- jump nine places to 15 out of 190—a their business regulations ies lag the average EU score on the quality great accomplishment given how hard it In the long run, Irish authorities can look of judicial processes, averaging 8.5 out is for a country to climb in the rankings beyond the country’s borders for good of 18 points. It is also more expensive in when already highly ranked (figure 3.2). practices in business regulations to 4 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY FIGURE 3.2  Adopting all domestic good practices would boost Ireland’s standing by nine places in the global rankings Ireland (Dublin) Best of Ireland Doing Business 2020 rank Potential rank Starting a Business 15 3 procedures (all cities), 9 days (Galway), Starting a business 17 0.1% of income per capita (all cities) 3 procedures, 11 days, 0.1% of income per capita 23 22 Dealing with construction permits Ease of doing business 24 26 10 procedures (Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Waterford), 158 days (Waterford), 1.1% of warehouse value (Galway), 13 points on building quality control (all cities) Dealing with construction permits 36 Getting electricity 10 procedures, 164 days, 4.1% of warehouse value, 5 procedures (Dublin), 44 days (Waterford), 13 points on building quality control 57.1% of income per capita (Dublin), Getting electricity 47 8 points on reliability of supply (Cork, Dublin, Limerick) 5 procedures, 85 days, 57.1% of income per capita, 52 Registering property 8 points on reliability of supply 5 procedures (all cities), 31.5 days (Dublin), 6.5% of property value (all cities), Registering property 60 25.5 points on quality of land administration (Galway, Limerick) 5 procedures, 31.5 days, 6.5% of property value, 23.5 points on quality of land administration 68 Enforcing contracts 515 days (Cork), 24.2% of claim value (Galway), 8.5 points on quality of judicial process (all cities) Enforcing contracts 91 650 days, 26.9% of claim value, 8.5 points on quality of judicial process Source: Doing Business database. Note: For the actual rank, Ireland is represented by Dublin. The hypothetical best ranks for the five regulatory areas shown are based on the best performances recorded among all five cities benchmarked within the country. Those ranks are used along with Dublin’s actual ranks for five other regulatory areas measured by Doing Business (getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders and resolving insolvency) to calculate the hypothetical best rank for the overall ease of doing business. improve the investment climate for local To increase the efficiency of issuing the United Kingdom for examples. The use businesses. Adopting such international construction permits, the country could of a geographic information system (GIS) good practices may require changing the enhance its electronic management plat- for electricity distribution networks is country’s laws. form—the building control management another good practice. Manpower needs system—and make the entire construc- can be reduced using GIS since fewer Making tax registration more efficient in tion-licensing process fully electronic. staff are required to conduct site visits and Ireland would make starting a business The introduction of mandatory insurance inspections, to check what type and size of even easier. Streamlining the risk-screening and liability for covering structural equipment is needed, or to estimate con- process at the time of a company’s registra- defects would improve the quality assur- nection costs. Such initiatives have already tion—an approach already used in Croatia ance mechanisms in the country. Seven been implemented in Coimbra (Portugal), and other EU member states—would help. EU member states already have in place among other cities. Finally, the internal Additionally, removing the legal require- such regimes: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, wiring certificate, which customers must ment to have an official company seal is a France, Italy, Luxemburg and Poland. currently submit to a separate third party, reform that has been implemented widely could be sent merely to the distribution in economies around the world. None of Enabling online application filing and utility, together with the rest of the the 25 top-ranked economies on the ease tracking for electricity connection documentation required to obtain a new of starting a business mandate such a requests is one of the most effective good connection. Several EU member states requirement by law. practices countries around the world have allow this practice, including Denmark and adopted. Ireland could look to France and Germany. DOING BUSINESS IN IRELAND 5 TABLE 3.2  Opportunities for regulatory improvement in Irish cities Relevant ministries and agencies* Regulatory area Reform recommendations National level Local level Starting a Simplify tax registration and integrate it into the company incorporation • Companies Registration business process Office Eliminate the requirement to obtain an official company seal • Revenue Commissioners Make starting a business a fully electronic process Dealing with Consider ways to reduce the burden on entrepreneurs for infrastructure • Department of Housing, • City and county councils construction development Planning and Local • Local Government permits Government Management Agency Shorten statutory time limits • National Building Control Enhance features of the building control management system Office Introduce mandatory insurance and liability to cover structural defects Getting Introduce an online platform to apply and track application status • Electricity Supply Board • City and county councils electricity electronically Networks Introduce a geographic information system for the electricity distribution • Commission for Regulation network of Utilities • Safe Electric Allow electrical suppliers to submit the applications for new connections Provide an option to pay connection fees in installments Allow the submission of internal wiring certificates to the Electricity Supply Board in a single application Registering Finalize formal registration of all properties and land parcels in Ireland • Property Registration • City and county councils property Authority Create a fully integrated and electronic platform for property transfers • Revenue Commissioners Consider introducing fast-track registration procedures at the Land Registry for an extra fee Assess the possibility of lowering the cost of transferring property in Ireland Consider setting up a separate and specific mechanism to handle registration and mapping complaints Enforcing Actively manage the pretrial phase and set deadlines for key litigation • The Judiciary contracts events • Courts Service of Ireland Limit the number, duration and reasons for granting adjournments • Department of Justice and Equality Introduce and optimize electronic tools to improve court operation and enhance case management at the High Court Note: All reform recommendations are detailed in dedicated sections about each indicator. *The list includes the main ministries and agencies relevant to each regulatory area, but others might also be implicated. The completion of all title registration in first steps toward promoting more effi- the country is a necessary prerequisite cient and effective commercial litigation for implementing a fully integrated elec- in Ireland. Trials can also be shortened tronic platform for property transfers, by limiting adjournments and enforcing which would then enable stakeholders the corresponding restrictions, a good to conduct conveyancing, document fil- practice found in nine other EU member ing and, eventually, property registration states. As Ireland continues its invest- through a single online access point. Such ment in automation, it should prioritize initiatives have already been implement- the introduction of electronic tools at the ed in other EU member states, including High Court level to improve court opera- Denmark. tion and case management by judges and lawyers. More active management of court cases in the pretrial phase and holding parties accountable to deadlines are necessary 6 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY 1. Starting a Business Starting a business in Ireland benchmarked, business start-up takes of the geographic location of the com- costs less and is simpler than the less than two weeks, which is similar to pany’s seat. EU average the EU average of 11.9 days (figure 3.3). Ireland regulates business startup using Most registration applications are only three procedures. Only four other Starting a business in Ireland submitted electronically. To access the EU member states—Estonia, Finland, takes only three steps electronic registration system, company Greece and Slovenia—manage to do The first step for entrepreneurs starting a founders must first register and create so. At 0.1% of income per capita, the business is to complete and submit the a profile on the CRO online platform. start-up process is substantially less application for registration, along with the Anyone with a personal identification expensive than the EU average of 3.1%. company incorporation documents, to number can register free of charge and For fewer than EUR 100, entrepreneurs the Companies Registration Office (CRO) obtain login credentials. in Ireland can register directly with the (figure 3.4). Entrepreneurs can use either company registry, using standard incor- standard or customized incorporation The CRO registers the company within 5 poration documents, without having to documents, which can be submitted days, two days after it receives the paper hire professional intermediaries. There electronically or in print format. Even if copies. The registration officer reviews is also no paid-in minimum capital digital submission is chosen, incorpora- the company constitution and share- requirement before incorporation, which tion documents must be printed, signed holders’ signatures and checks whether is also now the case in 11 other EU and mailed to the CRO in Dublin, where the information provided in print format member states.9 In all five Irish cities all applications are processed regardless corresponds with the data submitted FIGURE 3.3  Starting a business in Ireland is relatively inexpensive and simple, compared to EU peers Procedures Time Cost (number) (days) (% of income per capita) Georgia, New Zealand 1 0 Slovenia, United Kingdom 0 All 5 Irish cities (global best) New Zealand (global best) (EU and global best) 1 France 2 1 2 Ireland and 4 othersa 3 (EU best) 3 All 5 Irish cities 2 3 member statesb (EU best) France 4 United Kingdom United Kingdom 4 5 EU average 3 Germany 8 France 5 4 EU average 9 Galway 6 10 5 11 Dublin 7 EU average 12 6 Germany 13 Cork, Limerick, Waterford 8 7 14 Czech Republic, Italy (EU lowest) Germany (EU lowest) 9 Poland (EU lowest) 37 14 Source: Doing Business database. Note: The averages for the European Union are based on economy-level data for the 28 EU member states. Other countries are represented by their largest city as measured by global Doing Business. a Estonia, Finland, Greece and Slovenia. b Denmark, Estonia, and the Netherlands. DOING BUSINESS IN IRELAND 7 cases, the process can take one month FIGURE 3.4  How does the business registration process work in Ireland? or longer. Currently, VAT applications are processed by three regional Revenue divisions, located in Dublin, Galway and 2. Register for Thurles, each with its own geographical 1. Register at CRO taxes and social remit. For example, VAT applications security from Cork, Limerick and Waterford are reviewed by Revenue officers in Thurles. 3. Purchase Before registering a company for VAT, company seal Revenue evaluates the company’s assets, Online data flow Paper document flow its premises and business plans, and, if needed, it initiates a request for further Source: Doing Business database. documentation or conducts an inspec- tion of the premises. The aim is to prevent electronically, as well as the validity of time it takes to do so varies among the tax fraud by ensuring that a company’s the proposed company name. At the five cities benchmarked, ranging from founders have no history that could raise end of the process, a digital certificate of 9 days in Galway to 13 days in Cork, questions about its risk. If additional doc- incorporation is issued and transmitted Limerick and Waterford (table 3.3). umentation is needed, it can be uploaded electronically to the applicant. on the Revenue online platform (ROS) or The wait time to complete VAT registra- sent to Revenue offices by mail. The next step is to register the new tion is driving the time variation among company with the Office of the Revenue the cities. If the annual turnover of a The Office of the Revenue Commissioner Commissioner (or Revenue, in short). The company performing general commercial is currently undertaking efforts to stream- company can register for corporation and activities is anticipated to exceed the line the registration process. A transition value-added taxes (VAT), as well as for threshold for compulsory VAT registra- to a nationwide registration system is due social insurance (PAYE/PRSI), with one tion in the first 12 months of operations, to be completed by the end of 2019. In application. All registration applications its founders may elect to register the the new system, the registration function for limited liability companies must be company for VAT right after incorpora- will be centralized to allow for allocation filed electronically, through the Revenue’s tion, jointly with the application for tax of registration based on the availability of online service. One tax identification and social security registration. resources at the Revenue divisions, not number is valid for all tax registrations on where in the country the application and is issued within 48 hours. However, For simple cases, where all the informa- comes from. Moreover, a two-tiered VAT VAT registration can take several weeks, tion is provided on the first application, registration process is slated to become while Revenue carries out further back- approval can be obtained in about five operational by September 2019.10 The ground checks to ensure the validity of days in Galway, seven in Dublin and new process will differentiate between the information provided and its compli- nine in Cork, Limerick and Waterford companies registering for domestic and ance with the VAT registration criteria. (figure 3.5). In more complicated intra-EU VAT purposes. Those opting Additionally, all Irish companies are TABLE 3.3  Comparing starting a business across Irish cities required to have a common seal, which is obtained from third-party suppliers. Seals Score Procedures Time Cost City Rank (0–100) (number) (days) (% of income per capita) are used to authenticate formal documents, such as applications for loans, mortgages Galway 1 94.91 3 9 0.1 or certificates of share issuance. Dublin 2 94.40 3 11 0.1 Cork 3 93.90 3 13 0.1 VAT registration remains a Limerick 3 93.90 3 13 0.1 bottleneck that drives Irish Waterford 3 93.90 3 13 0.1 cities’ variation on the time to start a business indicator Source: Doing Business database. Note: Rankings are based on the average score for the procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital associated In Ireland, starting a business anywhere with starting a business. The score is normalized to range from 0 to 100, with 100 representing the frontier of best in the country requires the same three practices (the higher the score, the better). For more details, see the chapter “About Doing Business and Doing Business in the European Union 2019: Greece, Ireland and Italy.” The complete data set can be found on the Doing procedures and the same fees. Yet the Business website at http://www.doingbusiness.org. 8 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY In Italy, thanks to information sharing FIGURE 3.5  Variations in the time to start a business are driven by the time it takes to complete the VAT registration process with revenue commissioners among public agencies, registration with the commercial registry, tax author- ity, social security administration and Galway 3 1 5 for accident insurance can all be com- pleted through a single electronic notice Dublin 3 1 7 (Comunicazione Unica) sent to the com- mercial registry. Immediately after apply- Cork 3 1 9 ing, the company receives a notification with the fiscal code and the VAT number, Limerick 3 1 9 along with the registry application refer- ence number. Waterford 3 1 9 0 5 10 15 Eliminate the requirement to obtain Time (days) an official company seal Registration at CRO Seal purchase Tax registration By law, all Irish companies are required to use official seals to authenticate certain transactions. In the past, the presence of Source: Doing Business database. a company seal on a document indicated that it represented the will of the com- for an intra-EU VAT registration may be checks can be performed to assess the pany, as a separate entity, and not that required to supply additional information. accuracy of the information submitted. of its representative agents. However, It is anticipated that the vast majority of Similarly, in Portugal, all companies are the seal requirement has been removed domestic-only VAT registrations will be automatically registered for VAT at incor- in many countries. In addition to the approved and processed without delay. poration, with smaller companies being time and money it takes to obtain a seal, exempted from VAT filing if their turnover they are of limited use because they can falls below a certain threshold. be more easily forged. Furthermore, the WHAT CAN BE IMPROVED? practice of sending documents electroni- In the long term, Ireland could con- cally has made company seals obsolete. Simplify tax registration and sider making tax registration part of Businesses instead are increasingly turn- integrate it into the company initial company registration with the CRO ing to the use of electronic signatures. incorporation process thereby eliminating the need for a sepa- In Ireland, registering for VAT can take as rate procedure and reducing the burden None of the 25 top-ranking economies long as one month because revenue offi- on taxpayers and the tax authority. Other on the Doing Business ease-of-starting-a- cers undertake a thorough evaluation of EU countries offer examples: in Hungary, business indicator require companies to the declared business activity, the stated corporate tax and VAT registration can be obtain official seals by law. In the United company assets, the company premises declared during the company incorpora- Kingdom, the Companies Act states and the past business activities of the tion process at the Court of Registration. that a document is validly executed by company’s founders to reduce the risk Completing those three registrations a company if signed on behalf of the of noncompliance and the incidence of takes just one to two days. Similarly, company by two authorized signatories fraudulent reimbursement claims. in Latvia, a VAT law in force since 2013 or one director, in the presence of a wit- allows simultaneous filing of the compa- ness who attests the director’s signature. The Office of the Revenue Commissioner ny, tax and VAT registration applications The authentication of the person signing is already taking measures to improve at the commercial registry, and the pro- on behalf of the company can easily be the registration process. As part of such cess can be completed in three days. In verified through the commercial registry. reform efforts, they could also consider Denmark, the Danish Business Authority streamlining risk-screening at the point provides limited liability companies with In recent years, other EU member states, of registration so the resources used to a one-stop, centralized online registration such as Bulgaria, Lithuania and Slovenia, perform that activity could be reallocated service for business and tax registration. have abolished the requirement to obtain to other compliance actions. Croatia uses Companies fill out a registration form and a company seal and have undertaken this kind of approach, and obtaining a submit the Memorandum of Association extensive outreach campaigns to ensure decision on VAT registration there takes and the Articles of Association at the the reform’s full implementation. In addi- only one to two days. After registration, Authority’s online portal.11 tion to changes in the law, measures to DOING BUSINESS IN IRELAND 9 ensure that company seals are eliminated incorporation documents.14 Similarly, from day-to-day practice include: (1) Canada’s registration process has been expanding the reliability of information entirely paperless since 2006. Legal provided by the commercial registry formalities for company registration are online (e.g., by providing an up-to-date embedded into the electronic system: if list of persons authorized to sign on all requirements are met and the payment behalf of the company, the company is received, the system automatically address, etc.); and (2) ensuring that com- processes the information and issues the pany seal requirements are deleted from registration certificate instantly. all application forms and administrative checklists. Make starting a business a fully electronic process While electronic filing is available at the Company Registry Office (CRO), the process is not yet fully electronic: it still requires that documents be submitted by mail. In contrast, registration with the Office of the Revenue Commissioner can be carried out entirely online. Limited lia- bility companies can submit online appli- cations for tax registration through the Revenue online service (ROS), a secure platform for electronic communication between Revenue and Irish citizens and companies. Platform users who need help can access the “My Enquiries” feature of the ROS. In putting registration processes fully online, Ireland’s CRO could follow Revenue’s lead. Ultimately, the CRO and Revenue processes could be integrated into a single application procedure. A recent EU directive12 actually mandates putting registration services fully online. Directive 1151/2019 aims to encourage companies across the European Union to register, set up branches and file docu- ments fully online. In countries where fully-fledged online registration is available, physical interac- tion with authorities or the submission of documents in hard copy is not required. For example, in the United Kingdom, businesses can register online for VAT without visiting the HM Revenue and Customs authority.13 The Companies House introduced electronic filing in 2001, and entrepreneurs can now regis- ter their businesses with the Companies House in just a few hours simply by filing 10 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY 2. Dealing with Construction Permits Ireland’s performance in dealing completing, on average, 10 procedures Despite the same national legal with construction permits is over 175 days. This is four fewer steps framework, requirements vary better than the EU average than the EU average (14 procedures), but across Irish cities The construction permitting system in on par with the EU average time for pro- The process of dealing with construction Ireland is regulated at the national level cessing. Irish cities are three times slower permits is based on the same national by the Department of Housing, Planning than Denmark, the EU’s best performer legal framework in all Irish cities. A com- and Local Government under the Local (64 days), but much faster than France pany must first publish in an approved Government (Planning and Development) (213 days) (figure 3.6). The process costs newspaper for at least two weeks its Act 1963, which has been subsequently on average 2.4% of the warehouse value intention to apply for planning permis- revised under the consolidated Planning in Ireland, which is more expensive than sion, including the site notice, informa- and Development Acts 2000 to 2018. The the EU average (1.9%). On the building tion on the owner, and a description of legislation is implemented by local city quality control index, each Irish city what the intended development will be and county councils. The laws are applied scores 13 out of 15 points, the same as used for. Such a notice gives the public quite consistently across all cities, as are six other EU member states.16 Within the opportunity to appeal the construc- the statutory time limits.15 the European Union, only Luxembourg, tion development. Bulgaria and Malta have stronger building Dealing with construction permits quality controls, with scores of 15, 14 and After publishing the notice, an entrepre- across the Irish cities measured requires 14, respectively. neur must obtain an ordnance survey FIGURE 3.6  Dealing with construction permits in Ireland requires fewer procedures than in most other EU member states EFFICIENCY OF CONSTRUCTION PERMITTING BUILDING QUALITY CONTROL Procedures Time Cost INDEX (number) (days) (% of warehouse value) (0–15) 1 1 0 Luxembourg 15 4 economies (global best)a (EU and global best)c Korea, Rep. 20 3 member states (EU best)b Denmark 7 (global best) 14 (EU and global best) 40 Germany, United Kingdom 1 Galway Sweden 8 Waterford Denmark 60 (EU best) France 13 All 5 Irish cities EU average 2 France, 80 Germany, 9 United Kingdom Irish average Limerick United Kingdom 12 100 Irish average 10 4 Irish cities 3 Cork EU average 120 Germany 11 11 Cork 140 France 4 Waterford Dublin 160 10 Dublin 12 Irish average Limerick 180 Germany EU average Galway 5 United Kingdom 9 13 200 Cork France 220 9 Czech Republic, Croatia 8 EU average 14 (EU lowest) Slovakia (EU lowest) Cyprus 500 (EU lowest) Romania (EU lowest) 24 520 10 0 Source: Doing Business database. Note: The averages for the European Union are based on economy-level data for the 28 EU member states. The average for Ireland is based on the five cities benchmarked in Ireland. Other countries are represented by their largest city as measured by global Doing Business. a It costs 0.1% of the warehouse value in Mongolia, Qatar, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. b It costs 0.2% of the warehouse value in the Czech Republic, Estonia and Slovakia. c China; Hong Kong SAR, China; New Zealand; Rwanda and the United Arab Emirates also score 15 on the building quality control index. DOING BUSINESS IN IRELAND 11 map online that shows the location of Dealing with construction FIGURE 3.7  Dealing with construction the plot.17 For most buildings intended permits is easiest and fastest in permits requires one more procedure in for storage or office space, the applicant Waterford Cork than in the other cities would likely hold a preplanning meeting Dealing with construction permits is easi- Before construction with the Planning Department before est and fastest in Waterford, where the Publish notice of construction in approved newspaper applying for planning permission. At that process takes 10 procedures, 158 days and meeting, the entrepreneur presents the costs 1.3% of the warehouse value (table Obtain an ordinance survey mapa site map, the description of the proposed 3.4). It is most difficult in Cork, where an Hold a preplanning meeting development, details on car parking, and additional procedure is required because Request and obtain planning permission a full set of drawings, if the applicant the City Council’s Building Control Receive site inspectionb already has them. Department conducts a site inspection of Request and obtain fire safety and disability the proposed construction. It takes more access certificatesa Once the preapprovals have been than 40 days longer and costs twice as Submit a commencement notice completed, an entrepreneur can apply much in Cork as in Waterford to obtain a Utility connections during construction for planning permission from the local construction permit. Request water and sewerage connection authorities. The application includes the Receive inspection for feasibility of the connections site plan, site notice, drawings of the The time required to deal with construc- and obtain connection offer floor plans, feasibility of water and sew- tion permits ranges from 158 days in Obtain water and sewerage connection age plans, and a copy of the newspaper Waterford to 200 days in Cork. The After construction notice. Of the five cities studied, only variation is driven partly by how long Submit the certificate of compliance upon completion in Cork do planners from the building it takes to obtain a water and sewerage of construction and obtain approval department visit the proposed construc- connection. In all Irish cities, that connec- Local administration National agency tion site to familiarize themselves with tion process is handled by Irish Water, a Utility Other the area prior to granting the planning relatively new agency created by the Irish permission (figure 3.7). While applicants Government under the Water Service Source: Doing Business database. are waiting to receive the planning Act 2013. Irish Water officially assumed a This procedure is simultaneous with the previous one. b This procedure only applies in Cork. permission, they can apply for the fire responsibility for the provision of water safety and disability access certificates services in January 2014, in partnership from the local planning department. Both with each local authority. Prior to this, submitting it by email or post, along with certificates are required before a building the water and wastewater services were maps, building plans, applicant details, may be lawfully occupied. provided by 31 local authorities across information on water loading and demand, the country.19 and a water conservation plan. Once the After the planning permission is granted, feasibility of the application is confirmed and seven days after submitting the Under the new process, entrepreneurs by Irish Water, the agency forwards the commencement notice online, construc- apply to Irish Water for the water and application to the local authority for tion can start. During construction, the sewerage connection by downloading the review. They have seven days to com- entrepreneur can apply to Irish Water for online connection application form and ment. Irish Water also communicates with a water and sewerage connection. Once the building and the utility connections are complete, the supervising engineer TABLE 3.4  It is easiest to deal with construction permits in Waterford must provide a certificate of compliance Cost Building quality and completion needs to the local author- Score Procedures Time (% of warehouse control index City Rank (0–100) (number) (days) value) (0–15) ity, which, since 2018, can be submitted via the building control management Waterford 1 80.57 10 158 1.3 13 system (BCMS).18 This submission must Limerick 2 78.69 10 165 2.4 13 include a statutory form, plans, calcula- Galway 3 78.59 10 189 1.1 13 tions, specifications and particulars Dublin 4 76.58 10 164 4.1 13 outlining how the completed building dif- Cork 5 74.37 11 200 3.0 13 fers from the original plans, calculations and so on submitted during the planning Source: Doing Business database. Note: Rankings are based on the average score for the procedures, time and cost associated with dealing with permission phase. Finally, the submission construction permits, as well as for the building quality control index. The score is normalized to range from 0 to must attest the completed construction 100, with 100 representing the frontier of best practices. (the higher the score, the better). For more details, see the chapter “About Doing Business and Doing Business in the European Union 2019: Greece, Ireland and Italy.” The complies with building regulations. complete data set can be found on the Doing Business website at http://www.doingbusiness.org. 12 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY the developer to vet the design of the local with the Fire Department about the develop public infrastructure affected by infrastructure, if necessary. When this is design of the building and, often, they the new construction. The fee accounts on done, a contractor hired by Irish Water request additional information. It can average for 80% of the total cost to deal completes the connection works on the take between 58 days in Waterford to 90 with construction permits, or about EUR public land and installs the water meter. days in Dublin, which has a higher volume 52,000 (figure 3.9). It ranges from EUR 14 Because the operational capacity of each of applications, to obtain the fire safety per square meter of the building in Galway city’s Irish Water office differs, the time certificate (figure 3.8). (amounting to about EUR 18,000 for a to obtain these utility connections varies 1,300 square-meter warehouse) to EUR widely, from 29 days in Dublin to 55 days For the planning permission, statutory 75.10 per square meter in Dublin (equiva- in Galway. time limits are respected in practice and, lent to about EUR 98,000). generally, authorities do not respond Another factor driving the variation among earlier. In this case, authorities have eight All other fees, including the fees for the cities, in terms of how long it takes to deal weeks to respond to the applicant, and, in ordnance survey map, the planning per- with construction permits, is the length most cases, they take the full eight weeks mission, the fire safety and the disability of time it takes for the entrepreneur to to respond. But if the application is not certificates, the commencement notice, get a preplanning meeting with the local validated at the first stage and additional and the water and sewerage connec- Planning Department, which must happen information is requested from the appli- tion, are uniform across the country. If before filing for the planning permission. cant, which is most often the case, the entrepreneurs submit both the fire safety Preplanning consultations are mandatory limit can be extended. As a result, it takes and the disability certificate applications for non-residential developments of more 90 days to issue the planning permission together, they pay a discounted fee of than 1,000 square meters20 under sec- across all cities, except in Cork, where it EUR 500 instead of EUR 800. tion 43 of the Planning and Development takes 105 days because applicants take (Amendment) Act 2018. These consulta- slightly longer, on average, to provide On the building quality control index, all tions are often conducted via phone or the requested additional information to five cities score 13 out of 15 points (table email, although in-person meetings are authorities. 3.5). Ireland publishes online all its laws, usually held for larger proposals. The meet- regulations, fee schedules and docu- ing should be held within four weeks after The cost of dealing with construction mentation requirements for the planning a request is received by the local city and permits varies from 1.1% of the warehouse permission. county council, but that time limit is more value in Galway to more than three times of a goal; it can be extended depending on as much in Dublin (4.1%). The main driver All cities also have strong building quality the council’s resources and workload. The of variation in cost is the development con- controls before, during and after construc- process takes two weeks in Waterford, tribution fee, determined independently by tion, as well as strict qualification require- which receives fewer applications than the each city council. The proceeds are used to ments for their professionals who review larger cities, three weeks in Dublin, and a little more than three weeks in Cork, which far exceeds Cork County Council’s current FIGURE 3.8  It takes, on average, almost two weeks longer than the statutory time goal of responding within six weeks. limit for Irish city authorities to issue the fire safety certificate Statutory time limit Last, all buildings are required to obtain Waterford 50 58 both fire and disability access certificates. Both application forms can be submit- 60 Limerick ted concurrently while obtaining the 60 planning permission. The statutory time 60 Cork limit to issue each of the certificates is 65 two months, or longer, if agreed upon by 60 Galway the applicant and the Building Control 84 Authority. This two-month limit is gener- 60 ally respected for the disability certificate. Dublin 90 However, entrepreneurs wait, on average, 0 30 60 90 almost two weeks more than the statuto- ry limit—for a total of 71 days—to receive Time to obtain disability certificate (days) Time to obtain fire certificate (days) the fire safety certificate. Obtaining this certificate likely involves a discussion Source: Doing Business database. DOING BUSINESS IN IRELAND 13 the process. Licensed architects and engi- FIGURE 3.9  Development contribution fees account, on average, for 80% of the cost of dealing with construction permits in Ireland neers at the local authorities verify that building plans are in compliance with the Galway Fees as percentage of total cost regulations before construction begins. In 18 10% addition, a design certifier,21 appointed by Waterford 23 10% the building owner, is required to verify the plans and drawings, per the Code of 80% Limerick 52 Practice for Inspecting and Certifying Buildings and Works instituted in 2016. Cork 69 The design certifier may be an in-house employee of the construction company. Dublin 98 In addition, the Code mandates that an 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 assigned certifier22 be hired to inspect and Cost (EUR, thousands) to coordinate the inspection activities of Planning permission fees Development contribution fees Other fees others during construction and to certify the building or works upon completion. Source: Doing Business database. Like the design certifier, the assigned cer- Note: In all five cities, the planning permission fee and “other charges” are identical. Other charges include the cost tifier may also be an in-house employee of to publish a notice of construction in an approved newspaper; the cost to obtain an ordnance survey map; the cost to obtain the fire safety and the disability access certificate; the fee for the submission of a commencement notice; and the the construction company. A risk-based cost to obtain a water and sewerage connection. inspection system is also accounted for in the Code. A risk analysis of the building TABLE 3.5  Ireland has strong quality control mechanisms should be undertaken before the assigned certifier finalizes the inspection plan. All five Irish cities Building quality control index (0–15) 13 The professionals reviewing the plans Quality of building Are building regulations easily accessible? 1 and those supervising construction are regulations (0–2) Are the requirements for obtaining a building 1 required to have a minimum number of permit clearly specified? years of experience, to hold a university Quality control before Is a licensed architect or licensed engineer part 1 degree, to be registered with their profes- construction (0–1) of the committee or team that reviews and sional association and to pass a certifica- approves building permit applications? tion exam. Quality control during Are inspections mandated by law during the 2 construction (0–3) construction process? Despite its strength in other aspects of Are inspections during construction implemented 1 in practice? quality control, Ireland lacks laws that regulate liability and insurance regimes. Quality control after Is a final inspection mandated by law? 2 construction (0–3) No party is held liable to cover possible Is a final inspection implemented in practice? 1 structural flaws or problems in the build- Liability and insurance Is any party involved in the construction process 0 ing once it is in use; obtaining insurance regimes (0–2) held legally liable for latent defects once the building is in use? to cover these damages is optional, not mandatory. Is any party involved in the construction process 0 legally required to obtain a latent defect liability— or decennial (10-year) liability—insurance policy to cover possible structural flaws or problems in the building once it is in use? WHAT CAN BE IMPROVED? Professional Are there qualification requirements for the 2 certifications (0–4) professional responsible for verifying the Consider ways to reduce the burden architectural plans or drawings are in compliance on entrepreneurs for infrastructure with the building regulations? development Are there qualification requirements for the 2 The development contribution fees paid professional who conducts the technical inspections during construction? to the city council for infrastructure development are quite high across Maximum points obtained. all Irish cities. Development levies Source: Doing Business database. allow local authorities to fund public Note: For details on the scoring of each question, please refer to the chapter “Data Notes”. 14 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY infrastructure without necessarily tying approvals are rather long. The time limit the planning permission. In fact, counties it to a specific development, including to issue the planning permission is eight such as Cork County are already piloting projects such as roads, transportation, weeks. If the application is rejected or fur- online submission of planning permission infrastructure and facilities, stormwater ther information is requested, the appli- applications through the BCMS. management, parks, recreation, and cant then has an additional six months amenity and community facilities. to respond. The planning authority can Online permitting systems are becom- Excessive infrastructure development take four weeks to make a decision fol- ing increasingly common in Europe. The fees, however, tend to reduce investment lowing receipt of that response, and then European Commission has defined elec- in commercial properties, adversely the applicant has another four weeks to tronic application for building permission affecting job growth.23 appeal the planning decision, once it is as one of 20 primary e-government ser- made. vices.27 In Hungary, for example, all appli- Ireland could consider reducing these fees cants for a building permit are required or applying more targeted criteria when Regarding the submission of the fire safety to submit the application and upload the implementing them, backed by approved and the disability access certificates, it is technical and architectural plans through or planned capital expenditure programs a good practice that both can be applied the building regulatory support electronic directly linked to the potential use of the for together while concurrently seeking documentation system. The building funds collected. This would help ensure the planning permission. However, the department authorities then ask the other the system does not punish investors and statutory time limit of eight weeks for the related authorities to review and approve that contributions are set at the minimum authorities to issue a fire safety certificate the plans through the system.28 necessary to still ensure the functionality is oftentimes not respected. of the area’s public infrastructure. Serbia, And in Singapore, a data management for example, driven by the need to acceler- Ireland should consider shortening its system established in 2001 enables ate construction investments, abolished statutory time limits so developers online submission of plans and easy similar fees in 2014 for some buildings.24 receive planning permission and the two access to the information needed for And in New Zealand, development certificates sooner. Given that Ireland will obtaining a building permit, which allows contribution fees are calculated as a “fair, move toward a more efficient digital sys- for efficient permit processing. Today, equitable, and proportionate portion of the tem to process the application, to review builders regularly receive updates on the total cost of capital expenditure necessary the planning permission, and to process status of their application either by e-mail to service growth over the long term.” the certificates (see recommendations or text messaging. As a result, the time When setting fees, the Auckland Council below), shortening the time limits does for dealing with construction permits has considers factors, such as the cost implica- not seem to place an undue burden on been reduced by two-thirds. This reform tions of infrastructure funding decisions on local authorities. They will eventually be saves time for builders and government development and the challenges develop- able to review documentation and request officials alike. In addition, developers can ers face in getting their projects built, not- information quickly and easily through pay the fees by using an online system ing “if development costs are too high this an online portal. Moreover, Ireland could called CORENET. may act as a barrier to development and consider adding a tracking feature to the slow down growth.”25 building control management system Introduce mandatory insurance and (BCMS) in order to help track compliance liability to cover structural defects Ireland could also consider setting a cap with the time limits. In Ireland, if a structural defect is dis- to the planning permission fees. In South covered in a building once it is in use, no Korea for example, by law, private sector Enhance features of the building party is held liable by law and no party is professionals are not allowed to charge control management system required to hold insurance to cover the more than 1.29% of the construction cost To increase the efficiency of construction costs associated with structural defects to conduct all inspections during con- permitting, Ireland could continue to (such insurance is called latent defect struction and to issue the final completion enhance its BCMS until the entire con- liability insurance). Article 12 of the Code certificate. While the cap does not apply struction permitting process is fully digi- of Practice for Inspecting and Certifying to the building permit, Ireland could apply tal.26 Currently, only the commencement Buildings and Works addresses the a similar cap approach to the planning notice can be submitted through the importance of insurance but notes that it permission fees. BCMS. But there are plans to allow devel- is outside the scope of the Code. opers to submit requests and documen- Shorten statutory time limits tation for the fire safety and the disability It is important that the responsible party, Ireland’s given statutory time limits access certificates later this year, followed either the architect who designed the for public authorities to issue various by online submittal of the application for plan or the building company, is held DOING BUSINESS IN IRELAND 15 liable and obtains insurance to cover the costs of any structural defects after the building is completed.29 Normally, the contract between the developer and the other parties (builder, architect and supervising engineer) addresses who will be responsible for any defects or damages. Liability and insurance regimes are necessary in the construction sector because they ensure the accountability of practitioners and the enforcement agen- cies and they safeguard project owners and the public. Ireland could also look to the example of the seven EU mem- ber states (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Luxembourg and Poland), where parties are held liable by law and are required to obtain insurance to cover structural problems. In Denmark, mandatory decennial insur- ance is required for the construction of new permanent dwellings. When issuing the occupancy permit, the municipality checks the validity of insurance before issuance of the building permit and after the completion of construction. In France, the same requirement applies to all new buildings, regardless of the functional purpose, and has two levels: (1) insurance covering defects in the constructed prop- erty (dommage ouvrage) taken out by the owners of the building, and (2) decennial insurance taken out by builders to cover possible structural flaws. 16 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY 3. Getting Electricity Obtaining electricity in Ireland index. All cities studied except Galway The rules and regulations of the takes less time and costs less and Waterford score the maximum 8 electricity sector in Ireland are stan- than the EU average points on the index (figure 3.11). dardized at the national level and are Obtaining electricity in Ireland takes monitored by an independent body, the less time and costs less than the EU How does the process work Commission for Regulation of Utilities average (figure 3.10). It takes less than within the country? (CRU). The country has one distribu- two months (55 days on average) to get Doing Business studies the hypothetical case tion utility, the Electricity Supply Board the connection. Electricity connection of a local firm that needs a 140-kilovolt- Networks (ESB). The ESB owns the in Ireland costs, on average, 57.8% of ampere (kVA) electricity connection national grid, and it is responsible for income per capita, which is nearly half for a newly built warehouse located in a building and maintaining the national the EU average. However, in all cities commercial area outside a city’s historical electricity transmission system.30 The except Dublin, entrepreneurs complete center. The procedural steps, the time to process to connect a warehouse to the six procedures to obtain a connection, obtain an electrical connection and the cost grid requires five procedures in Dublin whereas all EU member states except to get it depend on the availability of both and six in the other cities. Customers Belgium, Bulgaria and Romania require low- and medium-voltage infrastructure, as initiate the process by submitting an fewer steps. well as the most likely connection type for application form available on ESB’s warehouses in the area. In all Irish cities, a website, together with details on the Irish cities perform well on the reliabil- new warehouse would typically connect to capacity requested and a survey map of ity of supply and transparency of tariffs the low-voltage underground network. the land. FIGURE 3.10  Irish cities are competitive in time and cost to obtain electricity, but lag the EU average in procedural complexity EFFICIENCY OF GETTING ELECTRICITY Procedures Time Cost (number) (days) (% of income per capita) 1 1 China, Japan, 0 United Arab Emirates (global best) United Arab Emirates (global best) 10 France (EU best) 7 economies (global best)* 2 20 20 United Kingdom Austria (EU best) Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Sweden, 3 Germany 30 Germany United Kingdom (EU best) 40 40 France 4 United Kingdom Waterford 50 Cork All 5 Irish cities France 60 EU average Limerick, Galway Irish average 5 Dublin 60 70 100 6 4 Irish cities 80 EU average Dublin 120 7 EU average 90 100 400 8 Romania (EU lowest) Bulgaria (EU lowest) 260 Romania (EU lowest) 9 270 420 Source: Doing Business database. Note: The averages for the European RELIABILITY UnionAND OF SUPPLY are based on economy-level data for the 28 EU member states. The average for Ireland is based on the five cities benchmarked in Ireland. Other countries are represented by their largest city, as measured by global Doing Business. TRANSPARENCY OF TARIFFS INDEX (0–8) two procedures are: Armenia, China, Japan, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates. * The seven economies that require 26 economes, including 8 Cork, Dublin, Limerick 15 EU economies (global best)* Irish average EU average 7 Galway, Waterford 6 4 Irish cities 80 EU average Dublin 120 7 EU average 90 DOING BUSINESS IN IRELAND 17 100 400 8 260 Romania (EU lowest) or Bulgaria (EUit obtaining In most cases, directly. lowest) FIGURE 3.11  All cities except Galway FIGURE 3.12  Obtaining electricity lowest) Romania (EUare and Waterford 9 similarto the global customers opt for obtaining 270 the permit requires five procedures420 in Dublin; six in best performers on the reliability of directly. In Dublin, by contrast, the the other Irish cities supply and transparency of tariffs index ESB always requests the road-opening license, which is why obtaining electrici- Procedure Agency RELIABILITY OF SUPPLY AND TRANSPARENCY OF TARIFFS INDEX ty in Dublin requires one step less—from Submit application Electricity Supply Board (0–8) the customer’s vantage point—than 26 economes, including 8 Cork, Dublin, Limerick in the rest of the benchmarked cities Receive external inspection and await estimate Electricity Supply Board 15 EU economies (global best)* Irish average (figure 3.12). EU average Obtain road-opening license Roads Department, City for external works and County Council 7 Galway, Waterford While completing the external works, the Await completion of external Private electrical contractor client’s registered electrical contractor works or Distribution utility submits the completion certificate on Submit customer’s electrician's Safe Electric internal wiring to Safe Electric, an entity completion certificate* Bulgaria, Malta 6 responsible for validating completion (EU lowest) Sign supply contract with an Supplier and certificates for CRU, the national regula- electricity supplier and obtain distribution utility meter installation and final tor.31 As a last step, customers choose connection 5 an electricity supplier and sign a supply Procedure present in all cities contract. The supplier then notifies ESB, Procedure present in Cork, Limerick, which installs the meter and switches on Galway and Waterford the connection. 4 Source: Doing Business database. Cork and Dublin lead the * This procedure takes place simultaneously with the previous one. rankings on the ease of getting 0 electricity Despite being nationally regulated, there electricity takes almost twice as long as Source: Doing Business database. is some local variation in getting electric- in the other cities. However, Dublin cus- Note: The averages for the European Union are based on economy-level data for the 28 EU member states. The ity across Ireland. Overall, it is easier to tomers benefit from a simpler process, average for Ireland is based on the five cities benchmarked obtain a connection in Dublin and more where ESB takes care of obtaining the in Ireland. Other countries are represented by their largest city, as measured by global Doing Business. difficult in Galway (table 3.6). required permits from the city council. * The 26 economies with a score of 8 include 15 EU The main driver of the differences in member states: Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland (as It takes the least time to obtain a connec- time to obtain an electricity connection represented by Dublin), Lithuania, Netherlands, Slovakia, tion in Waterford, but customers there is the length of time it takes to obtain a Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The other 11 are Belarus; Costa Rica; Hong Kong SAR, experience one of the longest and most road-opening license and carry out the China; Japan; Kazakhstan; Malaysia; the Republic of Korea; the Russian Federation; Thailand; the United Arab frequent power outages. In Dublin, where connection works. In Cork, this takes 23 Emirates and Uzbekistan. the pace of new investment in recent days, about 5 fewer days than in Galway, years is generating significantly more Limerick and Waterford and more than a Applications must be mailed or e-mailed applications than elsewhere, getting month less than in Dublin (figure 3.13). to the central office at ESB Networks Service Bureau, located in Cork. After TABLE 3.6  Getting electricity is easier in Dublin; it takes the least time in Waterford submission, ESB contacts the customer to schedule a site inspection. Based on Cost Reliability of supply and Score Procedures Time (% of income transparency of tariffs index that inspection, ESB calculates the con- City Rank (0–100) (number) (days) per capita) (0–8) nection fees and sends the customer Dublin 1 84.21 5 85 57.1 8 a quote for the cost and a connection agreement for acceptance. Cork 2 84.17 6 47 57.9 8 Limerick 3 83.95 6 49 58.2 8 Before the connection works start, a Waterford 4 81.37 6 44 57.6 7 road-opening license must be obtained Galway 5 80.83 6 49 58.0 7 from the local Roads Department. In Source: Doing Business database. Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford Note: Rankings are based on the average score for the procedures, time and cost associated with getting electricity, customers can choose between asking as well as for the reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index. The score is normalized to range from 0 to 100 (the higher the score, the better). For more details, see the chapter “About Doing Business and Doing Business in the ESB to obtain the license on their behalf European Union 2020: Greece, Ireland and Italy.” 18 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY FIGURE 3.13  Getting electricity in Dublin takes nearly twice as long as in the other Irish cities WHAT CAN BE IMPROVED? Introduce an online platform to Waterford 10 27 7 apply and track application status electronically Cork 17 23 7 The application process in Ireland Galway 15 28 6 is currently only partially electronic. Customers can submit an application Limerick 14 28 7 for an electrical connection and the necessary attachments by e-mail to Dublin 18 60 7 the ESB Networks Service Bureau. They can also pay the connection fees online. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 However, once the payment is received, Processing application and issuing estimate Road-opening license and connection work a hard copy of the connection agreement Supply contract and meter installation must be returned to the Bureau. Supply contracts must also be signed and sub- Source: Doing Business database. mitted in hard copy. A fairly simple way Note: It takes one day to submit the electrician’s completion certificate to the regulatory body. This can be done concurrently with obtaining the road-opening license and completing the external works, so the time is counted under to streamline the connection process that procedure. is to introduce and accept electronic signature for connection agreements, Guidelines related to obtaining the road- the cities benchmarked. Overall, obtaining supply contracts and any other required opening licenses are published in the a connection in Irish cities has an average document. Purple Book, where anyone can access cost equal to 57.8% of income per capita. detailed information on time, fees and Introducing IT solutions is among the the technical standards required.32 The On top of measuring efficiency, Doing most effective ways to reduce connection national statutory time limit for officials Business also looks at the reliability of delays, as long as they are accompanied to issue the road-opening license is 14 supply and at the transparency of tariffs, by an awareness campaign for users and days. In practice, it takes from between using an index that scores cities on a scale as long as a dedicated troubleshooting one week in Cork, where a dedicated from 0 to 8.34 The index encompasses taskforce is made available to address licensing unit operates within the local quantitative output data on the duration issues or technical glitches in real time. city council, to two weeks in Galway to and frequency of power outages, as well Such solutions could improve and speed get the license. as qualitative data, such as whether the up application tracking and the internal distribution utility reports its performance workflow, and they could help local Another factor in variations among the to a national regulator, or whether the authorities collect data to diagnose the cities in how long it takes to get a con- regulation establishes financial deterrents cause of delays. nection is the length of time it takes the aimed at limiting outages. In Ireland, ESB utility to process the new connection publishes real-time service interruption Ireland could look to the example of the application and calculate the costs before information on its website, and the data United Kingdom, which ranks 8 out of the connection agreement is signed. In are also accessible instantly on mobile 190 on the Doing Business indicator for Waterford, it takes a total of 10 days, 8 applications.35 In all cities, ESB uses an getting electricity. In 2017, the Incentive days faster than in Dublin. automated system to restore services. But on Connections Engagement (ICE) initia- there are differences among Irish cities in tive was passed by the regulator Ofgem The connection fees are established at the the frequency and duration of outages. to encourage the utilities, also known national level. For a warehouse case like The most reliable electricity supply was as the Distribution Network Operators the one considered by Doing Business, a recorded in Limerick, where customers (DNOs), to complete the external con- fee of EUR 7,408 would apply. The charge experienced, on average, 0.4 power out- nection works faster. According to ICE for a road-opening license is set by each ages lasting a total of 30 minutes. Outages guidance, DNOs are required to provide local city and county council, ranging were most frequent in Waterford, where data demonstrating they have responded from EUR 270 in Waterford to EUR 558 customers experienced, on average, to their customers on time and according in Limerick.33 The cost of trenching (about 1.2 outages (three times higher than in to their customer service engagement. EUR 22,000) constitutes three fourths of Limerick) lasting on average more than If the DNOs fail to do so, a penalty may the total cost to obtain electricity across two times longer than in Limerick. apply. The utility, UK Power Networks, DOING BUSINESS IN IRELAND 19 implemented a new software system, works in a more efficient manner to the the option to apply for a connection titled ICP Design Fast-Track and Approved engineers who perform them. Adopting through an electrical supplier, rather Designer Scheme. Using this platform, the both the externally facing platform and than directly through ESB. This would utility is in direct contact with subcontrac- the internal one decreased the time to allow coupling two procedures: (1) the tors and able to track their progress. In obtain a connection by almost three application for a new connection and addition, the utility introduced common weeks. (2) the signing of the supply contract. requirements on design and planning of In Rome (Italy), where getting electric- the works and material specifications Introduce a geographic information ity requires a total of four procedures, for subcontractors to carry out external system for the electricity customers have the option of applying works. Thanks to these initiatives, UK distribution network through a chosen supplier. In Ireland, Power Networks reduced by one month Inspections by the utility, for which the ESB and the suppliers already share a the time it took to provide new electricity customer needs to be present, could common electronic platform for com- connections for customers. be simplified in Ireland. Today, once a munications. The same platform could new connection is requested, ESB must be enhanced to allow suppliers to com- Another example comes from the United send a technician to the site to meet the municate with ESB when they receive a Arab Emirates, the economy that came customer. The purpose of the visit is to new request for connection. Thanks to in first out of 190 economies in the Doing confirm the location of the property, economies of scale, it is easier and faster Business ranking for getting electricity. check the surroundings of the building, for suppliers to go through the process When the Dubai Electricity and Water and determine precisely where cables of obtaining a connection than it is for a Authority introduced a one-window, and the meter should be installed. Only first-time applicant. one-step application process that once this is done can the utility issue a allowed customers to submit and track cost estimate. The process is the same Provide an option to pay connection their applications online, it reduced the for simple low-voltage connections, for fees in installments time to obtain an electricity connection which there is no need to install a new Currently in Ireland, the connection significantly. The system also enabled transformer. works start when the client has fully customers to schedule site surveys. Over paid the connection fees. Ireland should the years, new features were added, such Inspections result in costs for both utili- seek ways to reduce such costs over as an e-payment portal and an option to ties and customers. In many economies time. In the meantime, the utility can schedule the internal wiring inspection. around the world, utilities use a geo- provide financing options. One option These changes so profoundly improved graphic information system (GIS) to map worth considering is allowing payment processing times that it takes one week their distribution network and connection in installments. The customer would pay now to obtain an electricity connection in points throughout the region or country. a fraction of the bill immediately, but the the United Arab Emirates. Thanks to GIS, utilities have better balance could be captured later, as an control over new electricity connections item on the first few electricity bills. Another example comes from France, and require fewer inspections. In Turkey, where the distribution utility Enedis for example, the utility Boğaziçi Elektrik Ireland could look to the example of introduced an online platform in 2017 to Dağıtım A.Ş. no longer conducts external Croatia, where the external works can streamline the process to obtain a new inspections for new electricity connec- begin once the entrepreneur pays at least electricity connection. The new system tions. Instead, for all new connections, 50% of the connection fee. The remain- offers a portal where customers can the utility now uses GIS to check whether ing 50% can be paid later, but before the submit connection requests, along with an additional transformer is needed to connection is electrified. In the Republic all supporting documentation. The utility provide electricity to the new customer. of Korea, the distribution utility KEPCO also implemented Teradata Unified Data To make the adoption of such a system charges a standard construction cost Architecture, an internal platform that gradual and safe, Ireland could follow the of about USD 10,000 for a 150-meter allows the customer service department example of Portugal, where the use of GIS service line and a 140-kilovolt-ampere and the new connection department to to replace site visits was first piloted in (kVA) connection for underground power receive and process new requests for one city, Coimbra. intake, a cost similar to what Irish cities connection. Teradata facilitates the inter- charge. However, KEPCO charges only nal tracking of applications, speeding Allow electrical suppliers to submit 30% of the cost up-front. The remaining the analysis performed by the electrical the applications for new connections 70% is paid in installments over a period engineers and allowing them to respond One way of reducing the number of of up to two years. to clients faster. It also allows the connec- procedures necessary to obtain an elec- tion department to assign the external tricity connection is by giving customers 20 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY Allow the submission of internal wiring certificates to the Electricity Supply Board in a single application In Ireland, electrical contractors cer- tify that internal wiring networks meet safety standards. To be considered valid, however, the completion certificate they issue must be submitted to Safe Electric. Subsequently, Safe Electric forwards the certificate to ESB, after which the power can be switched on. Allowing customers to submit the internal wiring certificate directly to ESB with the rest of the nec- essary documents would considerably simplify Ireland’s process for obtaining an electricity connection. Several EU mem- ber states allow this practice, including Denmark and Germany. If certified electrical contractors wire the electrical network, and if they assume responsibil- ity for certifying the quality and compli- ance of the work, third-party certification could be eliminated. Such a change would speed up the process without compro- mising safety. Proper regulation of the electrical engineering profession is key in such a measure. To work effectively, systems of self-certification need to be accompanied by legal provisions specify- ing the qualification requirements and the liability of the professionals involved. DOING BUSINESS IN IRELAND 21 4. Registering Property The Property Registration and Titles as the main property register- phase of the process, the two trading Authority was established ing authority in the country (box 3.1). The parties investigate and exchange infor- to finalize the registration of PRA is a statutory body whose members mation on several issues, which helps property titles across Ireland include representatives of the main users determine the property’s value. This In Ireland, the Property Registration of property registration. Its functions negotiation process is guided by the Authority (PRA) is the main govern- include managing the Land Registry and Standard Requisitions on Title,36 a ment agency responsible for property the Registry of Deeds, as well as expand- booklet issued and maintained by the registration and management of the land ing formal registration in Ireland. Law Society of Ireland, which is the administration system. The PRA was primary professional body for Irish solici- established in 2006, under the provi- The process to register property is orga- tors (i.e., lawyers). The document lists sions of the Registration of Deeds and nized the same way across Ireland (figure detailed questions on issues such as Title Act, to replace the Register of Deeds 3.14). During the initial conveyancing the property premises, available water BOX 3.1  Reform in land registration in Ireland: toward a title-based system Ireland has a long and rich tradition of property registration, dating back to at least 1707, when the Registry of Deeds was estab- lished as a system of voluntary registration for deeds and property transfers. While there was no statutory requirement to register a deed, the main purpose of the Registry of Deeds was to give priority to older and registered deeds over newer and unregistered ones in cases where multiple deeds pertained to the same piece of property or land. Its current function is to record existence of deeds and conveyances affecting formally unregistered property (i.e., that which is not registered in the Land Registry). The Land Registry was established in 1892 to formally register a property or land ownership (i.e., a title) and provide a state Formal property registration in Ireland guarantee thereof. After a deed is filed with the Land Registry, all relevant information concerning a given title is entered on a folio, which is then entered and kept in the registry. In addition, DL the Land Registry also maintains cadastral maps; both the fo- lios and maps are currently kept by the Property Registration Authority (PRA) in electronic format. Anyone who pays the applicable fee may consult the registry’s folios and maps. MN SL Since the establishment of the Land Registry in the late nine- LM CN MY LH teenth century, the authorities in Ireland have been gradually RN LD and continuously expanding formal property registration to MH WH replace the limited system of recording deeds with a more GY DN comprehensive and flexible title-based system. Between OY KE 1970 and 2011, compulsory registration (of transacted or LS WW newly built properties in the Land Registry) was gradually in- CE troduced in all 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland. During CW TY KK more recent decades, the government successfully complet- LK WX ed several initiatives aimed at expansion of formal registration WF coverage, such as setting up the Integrated Title Registration KY Information System (1999-2002), completing the Digital CK Mapping Project (2005-2010) and converting the entire register and associated indices from paper to a fully digitized Over 98% coverage format (2006-2009). As a result, as of July 2019, 93% of the Over 96% coverage total landmass of Ireland and almost 90% of all legal titles are Over 86% coverage formally registered (see figure).* Over 59% coverage * https://www.prai.ie/land-registry-services/. Source: PRA website (https://www.prai.ie/land-registry-services/). 22 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY of the structure of the property, verify its five procedures over 40 days, at a cost FIGURE 3.14  How does the property transfer process work in Ireland? boundaries and examine planning docu- of 6.5% of the property value. Although mentation relevant to the area where the number of requirements is on par the transacted property is located. The with the EU average, Irish cities are Preregistration buyer must also request a certified copy almost two weeks slower, on average, to Convayencing and Standard Requisitions on Title of the folio from the PRA, which has to complete the process and cost one-third Request certified copy of the folio be issued and mailed in hard copy. After more than the EU average (figure 3.15). Drafting, signing and exchange of the agreement the parties sign the contract, the buyer Irish cities score highly on the quality is required to pay a 6% stamp duty on of land administration index, however, Payment of the stamp duty the property transfer to the Office of the averaging slightly more than 24 points Registration Revenue Commissioners. As a final step, out of 30, a point higher than the EU the buyer applies for title registration at average. Application for title registration the PRA. National agency Solicitor Galway leads the rankings on Registering property in Ireland registering property Source: Doing Business database. costs more and is less efficient Overall, of the five benchmarked cities, than the EU average it is easier to register property in Galway services, relevant easements and rights, The process for registering property in and more difficult in Waterford (table and obligations or taxation matters that the benchmarked Irish cities is relatively 3.7). The process in Galway is efficient might need to be settled before closing less efficient and more costly than the relative to the average time to complete the sales purchase agreement. As part EU average. Transferring a property registration in other cities. Most notably, of the process, the buyer often hires an from one private company to another in Galway scores highly on the quality of architect or engineer to prepare a study Ireland requires completing, on average, land administration index, mainly due to FIGURE 3.15  Property registration across Ireland costs more and takes longer than the EU average EFFICIENCY OF PROPERTY REGISTRATION QUALITY OF LAND Procedures Time Cost ADMINISTRATION INDEX (number) (days) (% of property value) (0–30) Portugal, Sweden 1 Georgia, Qatar (global best) 1 Slovakia 0 30 (EU and global best)a Netherlands (EU and global best)b 2 (EU best) 5 29 1 Lithuania, 3 20 Netherlands (EU best) 28 c United Kingdom 4 4 25 27 EU average EU average EU average 5 All 5 Irish cities 30 United Kingdom United Kingdom 26 5 Dublin Galway, Limerick Germany, Galway United Kingdom 6 35 25 Limerick 6 Irish average 7 Irish average 40 All 5 Irish cities France 24 Cork, France Germany Dublin, France 8 45 7 Germany 23 Waterford Cork France EU average 9 50 22 Germany Waterford 8 10 55 5 13 Greece (EU lowest) Greece (EU lowest) 11 130 4 Malta (EU lowest) Poland 12 (EU lowest) 135 14 0 Source: Doing Business database. Note: The averages for the European Union are based on economy-level data for the 28 EU member states. The average for Ireland is based on the five cities benchmarked in Ireland. Other countries are represented by their largest city, as measured by global Doing Business. a Georgia, Norway and Qatar also require only one procedure. b Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kiribati and Saudi Arabia also have a cost of 0.0% of the property value. c Rwanda, Singapore and Taiwan, China also score 28.5 points on the index. DOING BUSINESS IN IRELAND 23 TABLE 3.7  Registering property in Ireland: where is it easier and where is the land The final step of the property transfer, in administration system more accessible and reliable? which the buyer applies for the lodgment of the new title with the Land Registry, Cost Quality of land Score Procedures Time (% of property administration index is another step that takes the bench- City Rank (0–100) (number) (day) value) (0–30) marked cities varying lengths of time to Galway 1 73.02 5 34.5 6.5 25.5 complete. The Land Registry processes Limerick 2 72.78 5 36.5 6.5 25.5 the application after it is filed online and they receive the required hard copies of Dublin 3 71.71 5 31.5 6.5 23.5 supporting documentation, such as the Cork 4 69.91 5 46.5 6.5 23.5 Deed of Transfer, a printed and signed Waterford 5 69.32 5 51.5 6.5 23.5 application form, and a proof of pay- Source: Doing Business database. ment of the stamp duty. Applications Note: Rankings are based on the average Doing Business score for the procedures, time and cost associated with relating to the property in the case study registering property, as well as for the quality of land administration index. The ease of registering property score is normalized to range from 0 to 100, with 100 representing the frontier of best practices (the higher the score, the measured in the Doing Business report are better). For more details, see the chapter “About Doing Business and Doing Business in the European Union Member processed fastest in Dublin (10 days), States 2019: Greece, Ireland and Italy.” The complete data set can be found on the Doing Business website at http://www.doingbusiness.org. due to a very efficient local PRA office, followed by Galway (15 days), which is the greater number of formally registered determined by prevailing market rates, served by the PRA office in Roscommon. properties at the Land Registry. On the make up the second-largest component Entrepreneurs in the other three cities are other hand, Waterford lags behind in of the cost. The rest of the cost, around all served by the PRA office in Waterford, both of these categories. 0.5% of the total, includes registration which typically takes almost three weeks fees charged by the PRA (EUR 800), as to complete this final step. Registering property requires the same well as fees charged by local councils to five procedures across all cities. Similarly, release documents to the applicants and The cities’ scores on the quality of land most of the cost of registering a property their representatives when conducting administration index vary from 23.5 is determined at the national level and a planning search. These local fees vary points out of 30 in Cork, Dublin and does not vary significantly among cities. among Irish cities. Dublin is the only city Waterford to 25.5 points in Galway and The main component of the cost is the that does not charge a fee for such docu- Limerick. The quality of land adminis- 6% stamp duty levied against the prop- ments, while other cities charge between tration index has five dimensions: reli- erty value and paid by the buyer. It consti- EUR 30 (Limerick) and EUR 100 (Cork ability of infrastructure, transparency of tutes more than 90% of the total cost to and Waterford). information, geographic coverage, land register property (figure 3.16). The stamp dispute resolution and equal access to duty can be paid online. Legal services, The time it takes to register a property is property rights. one of the main drivers behind the Irish cities’ varying performance on how well All Irish cities score the maximum 8 FIGURE 3.16  The stamp duty they handle property registration. More points on the reliability of infrastructure constitutes more than 90% of the total specifically, it is the initial conveyancing index. This index measures whether the cost to register property in Irish cities land registry and mapping system (i.e., phase—the phase that consumes the 0.5% most time—that varies significantly, the cadaster) have adequate infrastruc- from 15 days in Limerick to 30 days in ture to guarantee high standards and Waterford. During this stage, the trading reduce errors. The geographic coverage 7.5% parties primarily negotiate the conditions component measures the extent to which of the trade. The government can assist the land registry and mapping system the process through timely provision of provide complete geographic coverage requested information and documents. of privately held land parcels. Galway 92% For instance, in Galway and Limerick, and Limerick score 6 out of 8 points, entrepreneurs can instantly access plan- two points more than the other cities, on ning search information online, or submit this metric because they have achieved a request to review historical files in the highest rate of formally registered Stamp duty Legal fees person, within a few days. In Waterford properties. Nearly all privately held land PRA Registration and planning search fees and Cork, on the other hand, obtaining plots in these two cities are now formally planning search documentation can take registered with the PRA, which is not the Source: Doing Business database. weeks. case in the other three cities. They have 24 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY made a lot of progress but have some measures, such as the requirement of further reinforced by the EU Regulation way to go until PRA registers all privately first-time registration, the Government no. 910/2014 on electronic transactions held properties. of Ireland could consider more active in the internal markets, which came into measures, such as campaigns or initia- force in the country in 2016. Despite The transparency of information compo- tives, to convert the properties presently these legislative efforts, the uptake of nent measures whether and how the land registered at the Registry of Deeds to the electronic signatures for commercial pur- administration system makes land-relat- Land Registry system. Countries such as poses by Irish businesses has been slow. ed information available to the public. All Thailand achieved full registration due The government could take better advan- Irish cities score 4.5 points out of 6. The to a systematic effort over two decades tage of electronic signature technology cities’ principal shortcoming on this com- (between 1984 and 2004), issuing 8.5 by mandating the use of e-signatures and ponent is lacking separate and specific million titles. Similarly, Georgia in 2015 digital communication by businesses in mechanisms for filing complaints at the achieved full registration of land plots in official interactions, just as the govern- agency in charge of immovable property the capital Tbilisi through the Cadastre ment in the Czech Republic requires all registration and mapping. Currently, PRA REG Project, which pilot-tested using a Czech companies to communicate with it customers can only raise complaints at single software system in 12 geographic using the data box system, an electronic the PRA itself, or with the Office of the areas to systematically consolidate and platform for delivering official docu- Ombudsman, which covers multiple integrate the cadaster maps and property ments and communicating with public government agencies and services. registration data. authorities. Realizing the full potential of electronic signatures and other measures The land dispute resolution index Create a fully integrated electronic that verify the authenticity of electronic measures the accessibility of conflict platform for property transfers documentation would enable full digitali- resolution mechanisms and the extent A fully integrated and computerized land zation of the property registration process of liability for entities or agents recording administration system saves resources in Ireland. The country could look to the land transactions. In addition, the index and increases efficiency while maintaining examples of New Zealand and Denmark, looks at how efficiently the courts, as a high quality of land-related services. The which currently provide fully digital land- a last resort, handle disputes. All Irish system currently operational in Ireland is and property-related services. cities score well on this component, hybrid in nature: some procedures can be with 7 points out of 8. In Ireland, there completed fully online, such as payment Furthermore, if the city and county are numerous mechanisms in place to of the stamp duty, while others still require councils and other relevant public agen- resolve property disputes out of court. documents be submitted or issued in hard cies completed full digitalization of their If a property dispute case goes to court, copy. For example, the PRA is required to historical documentation, it would help it typically takes between one and two issue a certified copy of the folio, and cus- streamline what is currently a quite years to be resolved. A dispute such as tomers must file an application for lodg- lengthy and complicated conveyancing the one measured in the Doing Business ment of a title at the Land Registry. When process. For instance, when conducting case study would most likely be heard at applying to register a title, the applicant a planning search (i.e., a review of cur- the High Court in Dublin. fills out and submits an application online, rent and past planning and zoning docu- but afterwards must print it out, sign it, mentation relevant to the transacted attach other required documentation— property’s location), an engineer often WHAT CAN BE IMPROVED? such as the Deed of Transfer and proof has to visit a number of public offices, of payment of the stamp duty—and only such as the Planning Department of Finalize formal registration of then sends the application package to the the City/County Council, Irish Water, all properties and land parcels in PRA. The PRA does not start processing and the Department of Roads, to obtain Ireland the application until it receives the physi- relevant documents for review. If all rel- Currently, the land and property records cal document package. evant data were made available online, are split between the Land Registry and ideally in an interlinked system custom- the Registry of Deeds, both of which Providing fully automated and computer- ers accessed through a single point are administered by the PRA. Formal ized land administration services requires of entry, it would limit the customer’s registration of all property and land in a supportive legislative framework, as interactions with public authorities and Ireland under the Land Registry will cre- well as enabling technological infrastruc- increase efficiency. ate an integrated property registration ture. Electronic signatures, which are a information system with all relevant data, critical component of such infrastruc- Denmark provides an interesting case ideally made available through a single ture, were introduced to Ireland by the of how a fully digitized land administra- access point online. In addition to passive Electronic Commerce Act of 2000 and tion system was introduced gradually. In DOING BUSINESS IN IRELAND 25 1992, the Danish parliament amended than the standard fee for registration in to property cases with several institu- the Land Registration Act, which allowed three business days; 50% more for reg- tional offices. If filed with the PRA, the for digital land registration. Between 1993 istration in two business days; and 100% complaint can be addressed by the staff and 2000, the government implemented more for registration in one business in the office that handled the initial trans- organized and systematic efforts to day). Similarly, in some cities in Portugal, action, who can elevate it, if necessary, to digitalize all records, computerize 82 entrepreneurs can register their property the relevant divisional managers or the judicial district offices and train relevant in just a day or two if they pay a 100% central customer service office in Dublin, staff. In 2006, after full digitalization of markup on the registration fee. as needed.39 Entrepreneurs are also enti- land records, the Land Registration Act tled to bring their complaint to the Office was amended once more, to provide for Assess the possibility of lowering of the Ombudsman if their complaint is a digital land registry, which became the cost of transferring property in not handled satisfactorily by the PRA. operational in 2009. Finally, in 2011 it Ireland While the Office of the Ombudsman is became obligatory to submit registra- The cost of transferring property in independent from the PRA, it does not tion applications electronically, which Ireland, at 6.5% of the property value, handle only property cases. This means enhanced the efficiency of Denmark’s is higher both than the EU average of that property-related cases would be land-registry screening and processing 4.8%, and the Organisation for Economic handled with the same level of priority functions. Today, registering property in Co-operation and Development average as any other complaints placed with the Denmark requires three procedures, all of of 4.2%. As noted above, the main com- Office of the Ombudsman. which can be completed online, and the ponent of the cost is the 6% stamp duty, involvement of lawyers or notaries is not payable to the Revenue Commissioner. The United Kingdom provides one of required. Since an expensive registration process the global good practices Ireland could might at times impede efforts to expand follow. Besides having all the complaint Consider introducing fast-track formal registration, the Government procedures in place that Ireland currently registration procedures at the Land of Ireland could consider reducing the offers, the United Kingdom also permits Registry for an extra fee stamp duty. Several EU member states, filing a complaint with the Independent The Land Registry processes applica- including Slovakia, Poland, Estonia, Complaints Reviewer (ICR).40 The ICR tions for title in the order in which they Denmark and Lithuania, have either very handles complaints related to the HM are received, and all applicants pay the low property transfer taxes (less than 1%) Land Registry only. The ICR is neither a same EUR 800 registration fee. Recently, or have dispensed with them altogether. civil servant nor an employee of the HM the PRA has undertaken serious efforts Land Registry. In fact, the funding and to shorten the time it takes to process Consider setting up a separate staff for the ICR come from the HM Land applications for title, committing in its and specific mechanism to Registry but are managed independently Customer Charter and Action Plan for handle registration and mapping by the ICR. 2018-2020 to process at least 75% of complaints simple applications37 within 10 days.38 Giving companies access to an indepen- Another good international practice is Nonetheless, feedback from Irish private- dent and specific mechanism to handle found in Mauritius. A complaint option is sector practitioners indicates waiting complaints about property registration prominently featured on the homepage of periods at the PRA are still slightly longer and mapping is important. First, an inde- the Registrar General Department’s web- than is desirable. pendent mechanism can more efficiently site.41 When complainants click on the handle complaints, while at the same time “complaints” button on the site, they are To effectively reduce processing times for minimizing corruption and unnecessary automatically redirected to a complaint those who truly need it and to help priori- disputes with land-registry authorities. form42 that can be submitted online. This tize the work at the land registry offices, Second, correcting administrative errors form is sent directly to the Ministry of the PRA could consider offering formal, in property registration avoids problems Finance and Economic Development, the fast-track processing of applications for with property in the future, potentially ministry under which the Registrar oper- an extra fee. Other European economies keeping companies from having to go to ates. The Ministry typically commits to have introduced similar procedures with court to resolve matters, which is usually resolving the complaint within a specific, positive results. In Lithuania, registration a costly endeavor for both plaintiffs and short timeframe. The Registrar office with the Real Estate Register normally public authorities. recommends entrepreneurs contact their takes 10 business days. But entrepre- office before using the complaint option, neurs who wish to have their property Ireland currently lacks this kind of inde- only elevating the matter to the level of registered sooner can pay a higher regis- pendent complaint mechanism. Irish the ministry if not satisfied with how the tration fee for faster service (30% more entrepreneurs can file complaints related Registrar handles the request. 26 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY 5. Enforcing Contracts Effective and efficient access to justice that spend the most on courts.45 These by attorney fees, which in Ireland are fosters trust in the judicial system. As notable efforts are steps in the right direc- among the four highest in the European such, it also promotes stronger inves- tion—toward helping Ireland catch up Union. Ireland also lags on the quality tor confidence and can spur economic with its top-performing European peers. of its judicial processes, as measured by growth. Where firms and investors have Doing Business. Scoring 8.5 points out the assurance that courts will resolve legal On average, Irish cities lag of 18 on the corresponding judicial disputes within a reasonable time frame their EU peers on measures of processes index, Ireland performs on and provide transparent and enforceable efficiency and the quality of par with Finland and Luxembourg and decisions, they are more likely to actively judicial processes narrowly outperforms Belgium and the participate in the market.43 Resolving the standardized commercial Netherlands. Ireland also needs to catch dispute underlying the Doing Business up with its EU peers in terms of court As evidenced by the Irish Courts Service’s case study takes an average of 22 months automation and case management. latest annual report, Ireland is committed across the five locations measured, which to improving access to justice and has is nearly a month longer than the EU’s Contract ligation processes in embarked on a commendable mission average (figure 3.17).46 While Cork bests the High Court are largely the to update court infrastructure, enhance the EU mean, the other Irish cities lag. same throughout Ireland court management tools and further With an average cost of 26.2% of the In Ireland, the High Court has monetary improve court users’ experiences.44 The claim value, Ireland is among the five jurisdiction over commercial cases with most recent EU Justice Scoreboard shows most expensive places to litigate in the a disputed amount over EUR 75,000. Ireland is among the four member states European Union. The high cost is driven The Court also has a dedicated list for FIGURE 3.17  Cork outperforms the EU average on the speed of resolving a dispute, but Irish cities largely lag their European peers on measures of judicial efficiency and quality EFFICIENCY OF CONTRACT ENFORCEMENT Time Cost QUALITY OF JUDICIAL PROCESSES INDEX (days) (% of claim value) (0–18) 1 0 18 50 Iceland (global best) 9 17 100 Luxembourg (EU best) 10 China (global best) 150 16 Singapore (global best) 14 Germany 200 15 Lithuania, United Kingdom (EU best) 15 250 16 14 300 Luxembourg (EU best) 17 350 France 13 18 400 Germany United Kingdom France EU average 21 France 12 450 EU average 22 Germany 500 11 Cork 23 550 10 24 Galway 600 EU average 650 25 9 Irish average Dublin Waterford Waterford All 5 Irish cities 700 Irish average 26 Cork Dublin 8 750 Galway, Limerick 27 Limerick Netherlands (EU lowest) 7 45 Greece (EU lowest) 1,700 United Kingdom (EU lowest) 1,750 46 0 Source: Doing Business database. Note: The averages for the European Union are based on economy-level data for the 28 EU member states. The average for Ireland is based on the five cities benchmarked in Ireland. Other countries are represented by their largest city, as measured by global Doing Business. DOING BUSINESS IN IRELAND 27 commercial cases with a claim of one of this practice is to curb inefficiency Upon sale and satisfaction of the judg- million euros or more.47 Consequently, resulting from those cases in which one ment amount, the sheriff or undersheriff the assumed Doing Business case—a party tries to request a trial date, but the remits the recovered funds to the plaintiff. breach-of-contract claim between two other is not ready. Once the case is set businesses, valued at EUR 100,68948— for trial—except in the case of substitu- Irish cities show variations would be filed in the High Court’s non- tion—the same judge hears the entire in time and cost to resolve a jury list.49 case. After the trial, the parties are called commercial contract dispute, but back to court for delivery of the final judg- judicial quality is uniform The process of starting a breach-of-con- ment. To make the judgment enforceable, Resolving commercial disputes is easiest tract claim in the High Court is the same the court registrar translates it into a court in Cork, where the trial phase is, on aver- throughout Ireland. Most of the time to order. Once the court order is finalized, the age, four and a half months shorter than process is devoted to the solicitor’s prep- 28-day period to appeal starts. in other locations. Along with Dublin, aration of the case for filing and service it is also one of the two cities with the of the issued summons on the defendant. To execute the judgment, the winning shortest judgment enforcement times. Because the High Court has a single divi- plaintiff’s solicitor prepares the execution Contract litigation is most difficult in sion, all filings must be lodged through order (fieri facias or fifa) and files it with Limerick, where judgment enforcement its Central Office in Dublin. Most often, the Central Office for the court registrar’s takes an average of six months. Although solicitors (i.e., lawyers) or their agents file signature. The solicitor then sends the the time it takes to enforce a contract is the case in person. Companies located executed fifa to the corresponding sheriff equally long in Galway, Limerick is also outside the capital use town agents based or undersheriff for enforcement. The the costliest city for litigating because in Dublin to effect in-person filing at the Doing Business case assumes pretrial local attorney fees are nearly on par with Central Office.50 The clerk’s review and attachment of the defendant’s moveable Dublin and Cork (table 3.8). Limerick is issuance of the summons is usually done assets, which is made possible through also among the three locations with the on the spot. The solicitor can then serve a mareva injunction in Ireland. This pre- highest court costs, which are driven by the summons on the defendant. Service vents the defendant from dissipating or local expert witness fees. in person or by certified mail is required disposing of assets, generally, without for companies, at their registered busi- specifying assets. As such, following the The total time to initiate a contract claim, ness address.51 trial, the sheriff or undersheriff still needs litigate in court and enforce judgment to identify and seize assets. To do so, ranges from just under 18 months in Cork The trial and judgment phase begins after they will serve the defendant, who has to slightly more than 24 months in Galway a defendant has been served. The parties four days after being served to make pay- and Limerick. The time to start a lawsuit then exchange pleadings, a process for ment before seizure begins. The sheriff takes two months in each of the five cities, which the law prescribes various time or undersheriff subsequently identifies while the trial and judgment enforcement limits.52 In practice, these deadlines tend and seizes assets, produces a valuation times vary depending on the city. to slip. The lion’s share of the trial and report, removes the seized assets from judgment phase is devoted to discovery, the defendant’s property, and stores Trial time ranges from a year for litigants which is not time limited. In the leadup them and organizes a public sale through in Cork to nearly 17 months for those from to the application for a trial date, there locally or Dublin-based auctioneers. other locations. Trials are fastest in Cork are often intervening pretrial motions which delay the trial. These motions are not always heard by the trial judge; the TABLE 3.8  Enforcing contracts in Ireland: where is it easier? judge responsible for the list the motion Score Time Cost Quality of judicial City Rank (0–100) (day) (% of claim) processes index (0–18) is assigned to will hear parties. Cork 1 61.59 515 26.8 8.5 When the parties are ready to proceed, Dublin 2 57.88 650 26.9 8.5 they apply for a trial date. However, owing Waterford 3 57.57 670 26.3 8.5 to a recent practice direction issued by the Galway 4 56.41 740 24.2 8.5 High Court President in April 2018, the parties must file a certificate of readiness Limerick 5 55.40 740 27.0 8.5 for trial along with the application for a Source: Doing Business database. Note: Rankings are based on the average enforcing-contracts score for time and cost associated with enforcing a hearing date.53 The certification indicates contract, as well as for the quality of judicial processes index. The enforcing-contracts score is normalized to range the parties have discussed and mutually from 0 to 100, with 100 representing the frontier of best practices (the higher the score, the better). For more details, see the chapter “About Doing Business and Doing Business in the European Union 2020: Ireland, Italy and Greece.” agreed upon trial readiness. The purpose The complete data set can be found on the Doing Business website at http://www.doingbusiness.org. 28 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY because litigants benefit from the High other cities apply to have their cases duration at the High Court, there is more Court’s periodic local sittings for non-jury heard in the capital. The court is more variation in trial duration at the Circuit matters. Cork-based solicitors prefer this congested in Dublin, however, and wait Court level (box 3.2). venue because it is more convenient for times are longer. As of March 2019, the the parties and their witnesses. There High Court’s estimated wait time, for The second main driver of variation in are also fewer cases on the court list in the hypothetical dispute in the Doing duration is the time it takes to enforce Cork, so wait times—the time from the Business case study to be heard in Dublin, judgments, which ranges from three point of applying for a hearing date to was about seven months. However, months in Cork and Dublin to six a trial’s commencement—are shorter. solicitors’ experiences indicate that the months in Limerick and Galway (figure Additionally, because the High Court wait times are even longer. The court 3.18). Differences largely stem from the only sits in Cork periodically, anecdotal partly attributes long wait times to a way sheriffs (in Cork and Dublin) and evidence suggests the parties try to close shortage of courtrooms in Dublin, which undersheriffs (in other locations) orga- pleadings and complete discovery faster prevents the more efficient scheduling of nize seizure and sale of the insolvent to ensure getting a trial date on the High hearings.54 This shortage is also among defendants’ assets. It is often difficult Court’s next local sitting there. the reasons for the court’s continued to identify desirable movables for sale. periodic sittings in Cork. Although trial Throughout jurisdictions, this enforce- Because the High Court is permanently time differences in Cork and Dublin are ment mechanism is mainly used to located in Dublin, most litigants in responsible for the main variation in trial compel payment of the judgment debt. BOX 3.2  Trial duration at the circuit court level varies across Irish cities Unlike the High Court, which sits in Dublin and periodically in Cork for non-jury matters, the Circuit Court operates through eight circuits throughout the country.a As such, there are greater variations in trial times at the Circuit Court level. Among the five loca- tions benchmarked, trial duration ranges from 10 months in Dublin to 18 months in Galway, and divergences largely stem from differences in infrastructure and resources (see figure below). On average, circuit court cases take one and a half times longer to resolve in Galway and Limerick than in the other jurisdictions measured Dublin 300 Waterford 340 Cork 365 Limerick 535 Galway 540 Time (days) Source: Doing Business database. Like at the High Court, much of a case’s pretrial progression depends on the parties and how quickly they move toward applying for a trial date. The main institutional variant is the waiting time to obtain a trial date after the parties file their notice of trial. Waiting periods reported in the Courts Service’s latest annual report are closely aligned with total trial duration recorded by Doing Business. More specifically, circuits with the shortest total trial duration that Doing Business recorded also have the shortest waiting time reported by the Courts Service.b In Galway and Limerick, where trials are longest, a shortage of courtrooms and judges is largely to blame. Galway is short on court- house space for all case types. In fact, staff often try to outsource cases to the courthouse in Clifden, but litigants are reluctant to travel the distance. Moreover, at any given time, the circuit only has two judges, only one of whom handles civil matters in addition to criminal matters. As a result, Galway has a significant backlog of cases that are yet to be heard in court. Furthermore, the trials themselves are lengthened by frequent adjournment requests. DOING BUSINESS IN IRELAND 29 BOX 3.2  Trial duration at the circuit court level varies across Irish cities (continued) Similarly, although Limerick has one judge assigned permanently to the region for criminal matters, a civil judge is reportedly avail- able only about two-thirds of the time. Congestion was also an issue in Limerick until recently, when a new local courthouse was inaugurated in March 2019, allowing the circuit to use the older facility solely for family law and civil cases. The new courthouse is thus expected to contribute to a reduction in wait times.c Cork, Dublin and Waterford all conduct faster litigation proceedings than Galway and Limerick. Waterford benefits partly from its smaller size, but in April 2018, it also opened a refurbished, expanded and fully equipped courthouse, facilitating judges’ delibera- tions and court hearings.d A month later, in May 2018, a renovated and extended courthouse also opened in Cork, alleviating space shortages there.e Incidentally, waiting times in Cork dropped—from six months to, today, four and a half months—between publica- tion of the Courts Service’s 2017 and 2018 annual reports.f The Courts Service’s 2018 annual report also notes a need for further investment to improve the courthouse in Galway city, along with four other locations. These investments in improving court infrastructure are part of Ireland’s broader National Development Plan 2018-2027 and further demonstrate the country’s commitment to promoting efficient access to justice.g a. The Circuit Court of Ireland is an intermediate level court which hears both civil and criminal matters and has monetary jurisdiction of claims up to EUR 75,000. Citizens Information. “Circuit Court.” https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/courts_system/circuit_court.html. b. Waiting times are as follows: 4 months in Dublin, 3 to 6 months in Cork and Waterford, 24 months in Limerick and on the “next sitting of the court” in Galway. Courts Service of Ireland, Annual Report 2018. c. Thejournal.ie. “A look at Limerick’s new multi-million courthouse.” https://www.thejournal.ie/limerick-courthouse-3891679-Mar2018/. d. The Irish Times. “Refurbished and extended Waterford courthouse formally opened.” https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/refurbished -and-extended-waterford-courthouse-formally-opened-1.3456075. e. The Irish Times. “Renovated and extended €34m Cork courthouse unveiled.” https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/renovated-and -extended-34m-cork-courthouse-unveiled-1.3511614. f. Courts Service. “Policy, reports & strategic plans.” http://www.courts.ie/Courts.ie/Library3.nsf/pagecurrent/D171C224DF0083D180257FB10043BD3 3?opendocument&l=en#Courts%20Service%20Annual%20Report&l=en. g. National Development Plan 2018-2027. https://www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/07e507-national-development-plan-2018-2027/. In less urban areas, undersheriffs face longer. Additionally, undersheriffs will Variations among the five cities in how greater difficulty in identifying enough often afford insolvent defendants an long it takes to resolve disputes also desirable assets to satisfy the judgment additional opportunity to pay the debt stem from how and where public sales of debt and thus seizure tends to take after seizure and before the sale. assets are held. After seizure, the sheriff or undersheriff contacts auctioneers to put the seized items on the auction FIGURE 3.18  Aside from shorter trials in Cork, the variation in time to resolve schedule. Auctions are conducted the disputes among the cities is driven by the time it takes to enforce a judgment locally most quickly in Cork and Dublin, the larger urban areas. Yet, evidence sug- Cork 60 365 90 gests that movables from Cork and EU average 41 458 138 Waterford are also more frequently listed in Dublin auction houses, where they Dublin 60 500 90 often sell faster. Meanwhile, in Limerick and Galway, listing items in local auction Irish average 60 473 130 houses is the most common method of Waterford 60 500 110 sale. Limerick 60 500 180 Litigation expenses also vary significantly among the cities. Costs range from 24.2% Galway 60 500 180 of the claim value in Galway to 27% in Limerick. These high costs are largely 0 200 400 600 800 driven by attorney fees (figure 3.19). Time to resolve a commercial dispute (calendar days) Throughout Ireland, solicitors usually Filing and service Trial and judgment Enforcement of judgment charge an hourly fee or a flat fee, as agreed upon with the client.55 Fees vary regionally Source: Doing Business database. because they are a function of the local Note: The average for the European Union is based on economy-level data for the 28 EU member states. 30 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY FIGURE 3.19  The average cost of litigating is higher in Ireland than in the European Union and the expense is largely driven by attorney fees Attorney fees 18.8% EU (average) Ireland (average) Total cost: 21.2% of claim value Total cost: 26.2% of claim value 15.5% 3.8% 5.8% 2.7% Galway Dublin 4.9% 12.5% 17.7% Limerick Attorney Court Enforcement Cork Waterford Source: Doing Business database. Note: Costs shown for Ireland are an average of costs across the five cities measured. market. They are highest in the capital and that allows self-representation.59 Third, Ireland also excels on the Doing Business in southern Ireland and least expensive in the law in Ireland allows for pretrial alternative dispute resolution index. Western Ireland. Court fees are regulated attachment.60 Last, courts assign cases Arbitration is governed by a con- nationally and the sole source of variation randomly to judges, preventing judicial solidated law.62 Moreover, in practice, among cities is the cost of a local expert interference in assignment. However, courts generally enforce valid arbitration witness.56 Expert witness fees are higher in case assignment is not automated. clauses. Ireland’s recent adoption of a smaller cities, where there are reportedly fewer such professionals. Enforcement fees are regulated nationally and so do FIGURE 3.20  While Ireland is on par with or outperforms the EU average in two not vary throughout the country for the areas, it lags in two others assumed case.57 Court structure and proceedings (-1–5) 6 Because the High Court has a single divi- 5 sion, the five Irish cities’ performance is 4 shown as uniform on the Doing Business 3 quality of judicial processes index.58 2 While Ireland does well in two areas 1 Alternative dispute Case management (0–6) assessed on the index, it lags in two oth- resolution (0–3) ers (figure 3.20). Within the European Union, Ireland exhibits the greatest number of good practices in its court structure and Court automation (0–4) proceedings. The first reason for this is that Ireland is among the half of EU Ireland EU average EU best member states with a commercial court or division. Second, its District Courts— Source: Doing Business database. Note: The average for the European Union is based on economy-level data for 28 EU member states. Among EU which have a monetary jurisdiction up member states, Romania, Croatia and Poland have the highest score on the court structure and proceedings index; to EUR 2,000—are small claims courts Latvia has the highest score on the case management index; Estonia, Lithuania and Slovakia share the highest score on the court automation index; and Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Spain share the with a simplified, fast-track procedure highest score on the alternative dispute resolution index. DOING BUSINESS IN IRELAND 31 consolidated law on voluntary media- down issues and consider settlement tion, the Mediation Act of 2017, was also WHAT CAN BE IMPROVED? options. They also allow judges to take recorded as an improvement in the Doing control of the case early on, promote Business 2019 assessment. However, Actively manage the pretrial phase settlement and limit the scope of the there are no financial incentives that and set deadlines for key litigation prospective trial.64 encourage mediation in the Irish system. events Although Ireland regulates some litigation EU-adjacent economies, such as Norway, Case management is the area where time frames, much of the advancement of have also experienced notable success Ireland has the greatest opportunity a case is left up to the parties, especially using pretrial conferences and may to improve its judicial processes, but it in the leadup to their application for a trial serve as examples for Ireland. Eighty nonetheless exhibits some good practic- date. For example, in the pretrial phase, percent of the cases subjected to prepara- es in this area, too. The Courts Service’s the defendant has eight days to enter tory hearings resulted in settlement after website is a model of transparency and an appearance after being served the Midhordland District Court introduced a treasure trove of important statistics, summons; the plaintiff subsequently has this case management feature for civil including caseloads and the average 21 days to comply with the defendant’s cases. Judges guide the parties in narrow- length of proceedings and wait times, to request for a statement of claim; and the ing down disputed issues, encourage set- name a few. The law also stipulates some defendant then has 28 days to provide tlement and assess each case’s suitability time limits, such as deadlines for the defenses. However, beyond these time for referral to court-annexed mediation.65 service of the summons and filing of the frames, progress towards trial is unregu- Following Norway’s example, pretrial statement of defense. lated by the court or rules. Additionally, conferences could thus also be a forum for during the intervening period between the referring cases to mediation, pursuant to Most litigation processes, however, close of pleadings and the application for Ireland’s new Mediation Act of 2017. Yet, especially those between the parties, are a trial date, parties exchange documents this should also be accompanied by finan- left unregulated. Also, Ireland falls short among themselves and there is no require- cial incentives to mediate, as in Italy.66 because it does not effectively limit the ment to report the exchanged documents number, duration or reasons for grant- or progress to the court. There are no In 2016, the Rules of Superior Courts ing adjournments. Additionally, while deadlines for the closure of evidence or introduced case management proce- there is evidence of budding efforts to delivery of expert testimony or affidavits. dures, including pretrial conferences. more actively manage cases early on, This lack of legally prescribed deadlines However, implementation of pretrial pretrial conferences are not mandated allows one or both parties to delay the conferences is discretionary and up to the in the High Court. Last, Ireland does not process and can mean that the litigating relevant courts. There is evidence that at measure up to the best practice for elec- small or medium-size business’ money least one High Court judge is trying to tronic case management, which is to say is tied up in court longer. Moreover, even promote pretrial case management by it does not have an enhanced, integrated for litigation aspects that are time limited, piloting pretrial conferences for non-jury and electronic case management system deadlines often slip because there is no commercial list cases. Yet, even for such for judges and lawyers that follows inter- automatic penalty for failure to comply. cases, pretrial conferences only occur on national best practices. The injured party bears the responsibility an ad hoc basis, and for the most complex of asking the court to compel compliance. cases. They are thus not a generally avail- In terms of court automation, Ireland can Ireland should thus consider introducing able feature across the High Court. Cost learn from its European peers. While the time limits for all litigation events, espe- is reportedly an impediment to broader Courts Service publishes all appellate and cially those that depend on the parties. implementation of this pretrial measure. Supreme Court judgments on its website, Consequently, Ireland, and more specifi- Ireland does not publish commercial Beyond introducing legal time limits, cally the Courts Service, might conduct case judgments at all levels of the court Ireland should consider introducing pre- an in-depth study of the ongoing pilot system. For example, not all Circuit Court trial management by judges or other judi- effort’s successes and the prospective judgments are published, and District cial officers. Presently, Ireland does not costs and benefits of rolling out pretrial Court judgments are only published in require pretrial conferences and is thus conferences more broadly. childcare cases.63 Similarly, there is no among the half of EU economies where electronic way to file cases, serve process this is not widely available, at least not in Limit the number, duration and or pay court fees at the High Court level. the court that Doing Business measures. reasons for granting adjournments Such informal hearings, first introduced Trial adjournments lead to additional hear- in the United States, are designed to help ings and can thus limit court efficiency. the parties find common ground, narrow Although adjournments can be necessary, 32 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY establishing regulations to limit exces- international best practices. As Ireland to the judge in charge of the list that cor- sive use and unsubstantiated granting continues to develop its strategy, there responds with the type of case. The judge of adjournments is an internationally are specific areas it should consider pri- subsequently assigns cases to judges in recognized good practice that promotes oritizing, including electronic document pool set to hear cases from the list. This speedy justice. Presently Ireland has no filing, fee payment, case assignment and process could be further streamlined regulation limiting the number, duration management, and judgment publica- with electronic, automated case assign- or basis for adjournments. The granting tion. Many of these features are often ment. Bologna has such a system and of postponements is thus fully left to the introduced as enhancements to a court’s may serve as an example for Ireland. The discretion of the presiding judge. Such underlying management software, and District Court in Bologna uses an auto- discretionary decision-making may lead they enable more efficient case man- mated algorithm-based case-assignment to inconsistencies across the legal system. agement. Because all such automation system that uses real-time data. The Moreover, a lack of explicit rules governing initiatives involve a cost, implementing algorithm considers each court section’s adjournments affords parties more lati- each of the following recommendations workload and assigns cases to individual tude to ask for leave from court as a delay requires a prior assessment of resource judges accordingly. tactic. Frequent postponements are also a implications. hindrance to efficient dispute resolution Electronic payment of court fees because they delay the final judgment. Electronic filing Electronic payment complements e-fil- Ireland should thus consider limiting the Electronic document submission helps ing. It makes payment faster and easier frequency, length and grounds for granting save litigants’ and court staff’s time. Yet, and promotes transparency. Although continuances. electronic filing is among the least com- e-payment of court fees is not yet avail- mon judicial practices observed globally, able, CSOL allows for payment of court In the European Union, rules limiting being implemented only in 28 of the 190 fines, the monetary sanctions imposed adjournments are observed in nine economies measured by Doing Business. in criminal cases. The CSOL system member states.67 Bulgaria and Croatia Ireland has adopted electronic filing on is reportedly able to link payments to fall in this category and were also mea- a small scale. The Courts Service’s 2018 individual cases.71 Ireland could follow its sured at the subnational level in 2017. annual report lauds the introduction of own e-payment model as it introduces In Bulgaria, the average time to resolve e-filing at the Supreme Court as one of the e-payment of court fees. a commercial dispute was 40% shorter its major achievements of the last year. than in Ireland.68 In Croatia, although the E-filing is made possible through Courts Enhanced case management law does not limit the number of adjourn- Service Online (CSOL).69 While it may be Electronic case management tools ments, it only allows them in unforeseen too early to measure results, evidence can help increase court efficiency, but and exceptional circumstances. The Riga from elsewhere in Europe shows the effec- developing them is costly, and across Central Court in Latvia exhibits another tiveness and popularity of e-filing among EU member states merely 15 have such good practice: judges cannot postpone users. Hungary introduced electronic filing a system for both lawyers and judges. hearings without setting a new date. in 2015 and made its use mandatory for Ireland is among the 12 member states Beyond the European Union, in New cases involving companies starting on that have these tools for neither.72 Yet, South Wales (Australia), there is a July 1, 2016. By the second half of 2016, given its bold ICT strategy, Ireland may strong disincentive for adjournments: the 40.57% of civil cases were submitted be well positioned to start exploring the requesting party is made to pay the other electronically through Hungary’s Perkapu development of an interconnected elec- party’s added costs when an adjourn- system.70 As it continues to evaluate the tronic case management system for both ment is granted. success of e-filing at the Supreme Court judges and lawyers. level, Ireland should also consider the pos- Introduce and optimize electronic sibility of introducing this feature at the Although the High Court has existing tools to improve court operation and High Court and in lower courts. management software, it is reportedly enhance case management at the mainly for the court staff’s use in assist- High Court Automated case assignment ing judges and is used less by judges for Optimizing the use of technology is Automated case assignment can help the management of individual cases. The one of the Courts Service’s seven stra- better balance workloads among judges, software includes some basic function- tegic priorities. Its 2018 annual report ensure that objective criteria are system- alities—such as the ability to generate details a remarkable list of recent ICT atically applied and speed up the process a hearing schedule and track the status achievements and ongoing and future of assignment. Presently, the High of a case—but its features are limited. development plans—all of which show Court’s Central Office categorizes cases Similarly, while lawyers have access to that Ireland is steadily moving toward by type. The cases are then transferred court forms online through the Courts DOING BUSINESS IN IRELAND 33 Service’s website and can track the status consider publishing judgments and court of individual cases, they also do not have orders in commercial cases at all levels an integrated system to manage their of the court system. Although the Courts cases. As a result, Ireland falls short of Service publishes many judgments on its the best international practices because website, it should expand publication to it does not have an integrated, electronic include all Circuit and District Court judg- case management system. ments. This will place Ireland in the tier of nine EU member states that already The gold standard is an integrated sys- publish judgments for commercial cases tem that grants judges access to laws at all levels.74 and judgments across the court system, generates hearing schedules, enables tracking of individual cases and their history, affords access to case details and documents (e.g., evidence, motions and briefs), assists with judgment writing, facilitates the semi-automatic generation of court orders and sends notifications to the litigants. Additionally, the ideal system also includes lawyers or is linked to the platform they use. Such a system would allow lawyers to view and manage case documents, file briefs and docu- ments with the court, and access court orders, among other features. While few current systems include all these features, the best platforms have most of them. Austria’s integrated system is one of these, and most of its functions are available to both judges and lawyers. Most processes are at least semi-automated, including the generation of court orders. Parties’ submissions and applications are also handled electronically. Moreover, Austria offers a model example of how to develop such a system. The Austrian Ministry of Justice took a gradual approach and developed its case management system in collaboration with the entire cast of stakeholders—including judicial officers and external users—to ensure their needs would be met through the system.73 Austria is also among the three EU member states with the fastest trials. In Austria, they last, on average, slightly more than nine months. Publication of judgment in commercial cases at all levels Last, to help judges specialize and apply laws more consistently, Ireland should 34 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY _of_practice_for_inspecting_and_certifying 39. A step-by-step guide on how to file a NOTES _buildings_and_works_final_version.pdf. complaint with the PRA can be found here: 22. Assigned certifiers are the registered https://www.prai.ie/pra-complaints professionals assigned by building owners to -procedure/. 1. GDP growth data retrieved in September 2019 inspect and certify works in accordance with 40. A step-by-step guide on the complaints from World Bank data: the Building Control Regulation. For more procedure in the United Kingdom can be https://data.worldbank.org/. information see https:/ /www.housing found here: https:/ /www.gov.uk/government 2. The Central Statistics Office (CSO): .gov.ie/sites/default/files/publications/files /organisations/land-registry/about/complaints https://www.cso.ie/. /2016-10-21_code_of_practice_for_inspecting -procedure. More information on the 3. The Central Statistics Office (CSO). Statistical _and_certifying_buildings_and_works_final Independent Complaint Reviewer (ICR) can be Yearbook of Ireland 2018. Retrieved from _version.pdf. found here: https:/ /www.icrev.org.uk/. https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications 23. Gregory S. Burge, “The Effects of Development 41. http:/ /registrar.mof.govmu.org/English/Pages /ep/p-syi/psyi2018/bus/businessinireland/. Impact Fees on Local Fiscal Conditions,” in /default.aspx. 4. Ibid. Municipal Revenues and Land Policies, edited 42. https:/ /eform.govmu.org/forms/RG 5. Ibid. by Gregory K. Ingram and Yu-Hung Hong /COMPLAINT/complaint_form.php. 6. See detailed results here: (Cambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of Land 43. Esposito, Gianluca, Sergi Lanau and https://www.doingbusiness.org/en/data Policy, 2010). Sebastiaan Pompe. 2014. “Judicial System /exploreeconomies/ireland. 24. The Law on Property Tax of July 3, 2014, Reform in Italy—A Key to Growth.” IMF 7. See a detailed list of reforms here: eliminated the fees for using construction Working Paper 14/32, International Monetary https://www.doingbusiness.org/en/reforms land. Fund, Washington, DC: OECD. 2013. “What /overview/economy/ireland 25. Auckland (New Zealand) Council, makes civil justice effective?” OECD Economics 8. Cork, Dublin and Limerick. “Contributions Policy 2019,” Department Policy Notes, No. 18, June 2013. 9. Five EU member states have no paid-in https:/ /www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/plans 44. Courts Service of Ireland, Annual Report 2018. minimum capital requirement: Belgium, -projects-policies-reports-bylaws/our-policies http://www.courts.ie/courts.ie/library3.nsf Cyprus, the Netherlands, Portugal and the /docsdevelopmentcontributionspolicy /pagecurrent/AC7C2772ABD0E1F880257FC United Kingdom. Six others have a symbolic /contributions-policy.pdf. 0003D294C?opendocument&l=en&p=155. requirement amounting to less than 0.1% 26. https:/ /www.localgov.ie/en/bcms. 45. European Commission, Directorate-General of income per capita: Bulgaria, the Czech 27. European Commission, eGovernment for Justice and Consumers, The 2019 EU Republic, France, Greece, Italy and Latvia. Benchmark 2016: A Turning Point for Justice Scoreboard (Luxembourg: Publications 10. The information in this report is valid as of eGovernment Development in Europe? Office of the European Unions, 2019), May 1, 2019. (Luxembourg: Publications Office of the https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files 11. https:/ /indberet.virk.dk. European Union, 2016). /justice_scoreboard_2019_en.pdf. 12. https:/ /eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/1151/oj. 28. World Bank, Doing Business in the European 46. For an overview of the Enforcing Contracts 13. For more information please visit: https:/ / Union 2017: Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania indictors and assumptions underlying the www.gov.uk/vat-registration/how-to-register. (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2017). Doing Business case, see the data notes. 14. Moss, Tim. 2014. “International Good 29. World Bank, Doing Business 2016: Measuring 47. Rules of Superior Court, Order 63A. Available Practices in Business Registers.” Presentation Regulatory Quality and Efficiency (Washington, at http://www.courts.ie/rules.nsf/8652fb610b at Corporate Registers Forum, Rio de Janeiro, DC: World Bank, 2015) 0b37a980256db700399507/71b5764f57d3 March 18. 30. While the ESB is the only distributor for all of 440980256f340064227a?OpenDocument. 15. Planning and Development Act, 2000, Ireland, the Irish energy supply market has 48. Doing Business defines the assumed claim as http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2000 been liberalized since 2005. 200% of income per capita. /act/30/enacted/en/html; S.I. NO. 600/2001 31. The activities of Safe Electric are monitored 49. Citizens Information. “High Court.” – Planning and Development Regulations, 2001, and audited by CRU. https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2001/si 32. Available at: /justice/courts_system/high_court.html. /600/made/en/print. http:/ /www.rmo.ie/road-licensing.html. 50. Most solicitors use DX Exchange—a secure 16. These are Austria, France, Hungary, Lithuania, 33. The variation in the cost to obtain road- next-day document delivery service—to Romania and Slovenia. opening licenses are negligible relative to the exchange documents with their town agents 17. Ordnance Survey Ireland, OSI, total cost for getting electricity. In Dublin, the in Dublin. DX Exchange. https://www.osi.ie/. fee for a road-opening license is paid by ESB https://www.dxdelivery.com/corporate 18. Building control management system (BCMS) Networks, whereas in all other cities, it is paid /services/dx-exchange/. is an electronic building control administration by the client. 51. Companies Act 2014. “Service of documents.” system. For more details on BCMS in Ireland, 34. The index looks at the role of the energy http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2014/act please see the recommendation “Enhance regulator, the systems used to monitor power /38/section/51/enacted/en/html#sec51. features of the building control management outages and restore supply, whether financial 52. S.I. No. 15/1986 - The Rules of the Superior system (BCMS)” in the next section. deterrents exist to limit outages, and whether Courts. Available at 19. “Irish Water Business Plan, Transforming tariffs and tariff changes are communicated http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1986/si Water Services in Ireland to 2021.” Irish Water. efficiently to customers. For more details, see /15/made/en/print. Available at https:/ /www.water.ie/docs/Irish the data notes. 53. HC57 – Certificates of readiness in non-jury -Water-Business-Plan.pdf. 35. See ESB Networks website: https:/ /www.esb and chancery actions. Available at 20. The total constructed area of the Doing .ie/esb-networks/powercheck/. http://www.courts.ie/courts.ie/library3.nsf Business case study warehouse is 1,300.6 36. https:/ /www.lawsociety.ie/globalassets /16c93c36d3635d5180256e3f003a4580 square meters, and, therefore, a preplanning /documents/committees/conveyancing /a6e6d4316a6fbb338025824800600177?O meeting would be mandatory. /precedents/2019/2019-requisitions-on penDocument. 21. Design certifiers are registered professionals -title.pdf 54. Consultative meetings with Irish local court who design the building, certify the building’s 37. Defined as cases that do not require representatives. March 25-27, 2019. compliance with the building regulations remapping. 55. Solicitors’ profession is generally regulated by and demonstrate the compliance of the 38. Property Registration Authority, Customer the Solicitors Act of 1954. documentation submitted to the local Charter and Customer Action Plan 2018-2020, http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1954/act authority. For more information see page 6, available at https:/ /www.prai.ie/ /36/enacted/en/print.html . https://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default download/Customer_Charter_and_Action_ 56. Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act /files/publications/files/2016-10-21_code Plan.pdf. 2008. http:/ /www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli DOING BUSINESS IN IRELAND 35 /2008/act/14/section/9/enacted/en 71. Courts Service. “Find information about paying /html#sec9. Civil Law (Miscellaneous Court Fines here.” https:/ /beta.courts.ie/fines. Provisions) Act 2011. http:/ /www 72. These include Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, .irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2011/act/23/section Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Ireland, /66/enacted/en/html. Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, 57. S.I. No. 644/2005 - Sheriff’s Fees and Slovenia and Spain. Expenses Order, 2005. http:/ /www 73. Heike Gramckow, Omniah Ebeid, Erica Bosio .irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2005/si/644/made and Jorge Luis Silva Mendez, Good Practices /en/print. The sheriff/undersheriff’s fee is for Courts: Helpful Elements for Good Court calculated on a percentage basis and the Act Performance and the World Bank’s Quality of also provides for assessment of various other Judicial Process Indicators (Washington, DC: fees related to the enforcement. World Bank, 2016). 58. For an overview of the enforcing contracts 74. These are Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, indictors and quality of judicial processes Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands and index, see the data notes. Slovakia. 59. Small claims procedure. https:/ /www .citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/courts _system/small_claims_court.html. 60. Rules of Superior Court, Order 50. Interlocutory orders. http:/ /www.courts .ie/rules.nsf/8652fb610b0b37a980256 db700399507/e10a0609886431f680256d2 b0046b3b9?OpenDocument. 61. Arbitration Act 2010. http:/ /www .irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2010/act/1/enacted /en/html. Rules of the Superior Courts, Order 56. http:/ /www.courts.ie/rules.nsf/8652fb610 b0b37a980256db700399507/4a4b2de4603 526f880256d2b0046b3d6?OpenDocument. 62. Mediation Act 2017. http:/ /www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2017/act /27/enacted/en/html. 63. Courts Service Ireland. “Judgments and Determinations.” http:/ /www.courts.ie /Judgments.nsf/Webpages/HomePage ?OpenDocument. Courts Service. “Judgments.” https:/ /beta.courts.ie/judgments. 64. Doing Business database. In EU member states that use pretrial conferences, the average trial takes 434 days. In member states without pretrial conference, they take 483 days. Member states that use pretrial conference include Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, Finland, the United Kingdom, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden. 65. World Bank. 2017. Doing Business in the European Union 2017: Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. Washington, DC: World Bank. 66. The tax credit is up to EUR 50,000. Article 17 of Italian Law Decree 28/2010. 67. Doing Business database. These countries are Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Poland. 68. The average time to resolve a commercial dispute across six locations measured at the subnational level in Bulgaria was 395 days in 2017. Trial time is 189 days. World Bank. 2017. Doing Business in the European Union 2017: Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. (Washington, DC: World Bank). World Bank. 2018. Doing Business in the European Union 2018: Croatia, the Czech Republic, Portugal and Slovakia. (Washington DC: World Bank). 69. Courts Service. “E-Filing of Application for Leave to Appeal to the Supreme Court.” https:/ /beta.courts.ie/leave-appeal. 70. National Office of the Judiciary of Hungary, “The Effect of E-procedures,” press release, February 20, 2017, http:/ /birosag.hu/en /media/aktualis/effect-e-procedures. 36 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY City Snapshots and Indicator Details IRELAND Ireland Cork Starting a business (rank) 3 Dealing with construction permits (rank) 5 Score for starting a business (0–100) 93.90 Score for dealing with construction permits (0–100) 74.37 Procedures (number) 3 Procedures (number) 11 Time (days) 13 Time (days) 200 Cost (% of income per capita) 0.1 Cost (% of warehouse value) 3.0 Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita) 0.0 Building quality control index (0–15) 13 Getting electricity (rank) 2 Registering property (rank) 4 Score for getting electricity (0–100) 84.17 Score for registering property (0–100) 69.91 Procedures (number) 6 Procedures (number) 5 Time (days) 47 Time (days) 46.5 Cost (% of income per capita) 57.9 Cost (% of property value) 6.5 Reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index (0–8) 8 Quality of land administration index (0–30) 23.5 Enforcing contracts (rank) 1 Score for enforcing contracts (0–100) 61.59 Time (days) 515 Cost (% of claim value) 26.8 Quality of judicial processes index (0–18) 8.5 Dublin Starting a business (rank) 2 Dealing with construction permits (rank) 4 Score for starting a business (0–100) 94.40 Score for dealing with construction permits (0–100) 76.58 Procedures (number) 3 Procedures (number) 10 Time (days) 11 Time (days) 164 Cost (% of income per capita) 0.1 Cost (% of warehouse value) 4.1 Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita) 0.0 Building quality control index (0–15) 13 Getting electricity (rank) 1 Registering property (rank) 3 Score for getting electricity (0–100) 84.21 Score for registering property (0–100) 71.71 Procedures (number) 5 Procedures (number) 5 Time (days) 85 Time (days) 31.5 Cost (% of income per capita) 57.1 Cost (% of property value) 6.5 Reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index (0–8) 8 Quality of land administration index (0–30) 23.5 Enforcing contracts (rank) 2 Score for enforcing contracts (0–100) 57.88 Time (days) 650 Cost (% of claim value) 26.9 Quality of judicial processes index (0–18) 8.5 CITY SNAPSHOTS AND INDICATOR DETAILS 37 Galway Starting a business (rank) 1 Dealing with construction permits (rank) 3 Score for starting a business (0–100) 94.91 Score for dealing with construction permits (0–100) 78.59 Procedures (number) 3 Procedures (number) 10 Time (days) 9 Time (days) 189 Cost (% of income per capita) 0.1 Cost (% of warehouse value) 1.1 Ireland Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita) 0.0 Building quality control index (0–15) 13 Getting electricity (rank) 5 Registering property (rank) 1 Score for getting electricity (0–100) 80.83 Score for registering property (0–100) 73.02 Procedures (number) 6 Procedures (number) 5 Time (days) 49 Time (days) 34.5 Cost (% of income per capita) 58.0 Cost (% of property value) 6.5 Reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index (0–8) 7 Quality of land administration index (0–30) 25.5 Enforcing contracts (rank) 4 Score for enforcing contracts (0–100) 56.41 Time (days) 740 Cost (% of claim value) 24.2 Quality of judicial processes index (0–18) 8.5 Limerick Starting a business (rank) 3 Dealing with construction permits (rank) 2 Score for starting a business (0–100) 93.90 Score for dealing with construction permits (0–100) 78.69 Procedures (number) 3 Procedures (number) 10 Time (days) 13 Time (days) 165 Cost (% of income per capita) 0.1 Cost (% of warehouse value) 2.4 Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita) 0.0 Building quality control index (0–15) 13 Getting electricity (rank) 3 Registering property (rank) 2 Score for getting electricity (0–100) 83.95 Score for registering property (0–100) 72.78 Procedures (number) 6 Procedures (number) 5 Time (days) 49 Time (days) 36.5 Cost (% of income per capita) 58.2 Cost (% of property value) 6.5 Reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index (0–8) 8 Quality of land administration index (0–30) 25.5 Enforcing contracts (rank) 5 Score for enforcing contracts (0–100) 55.40 Time (days) 740 Cost (% of claim value) 27.0 Quality of judicial processes index (0–18) 8.5 38 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY Waterford Starting a business (rank) 3 Dealing with construction permits (rank) 1 Score for starting a business (0–100) 93.90 Score for dealing with construction permits (0–100) 80.57 Procedures (number) 3 Procedures (number) 10 Time (days) 13 Time (days) 158 Cost (% of income per capita) 0.1 Cost (% of warehouse value) 1.3 Ireland Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita) 0.0 Building quality control index (0–15) 13 Getting electricity (rank) 4 Registering property (rank) 5 Score for getting electricity (0–100) 81.37 Score for registering property (0–100) 69.32 Procedures (number) 6 Procedures (number) 5 Time (days) 44 Time (days) 51.5 Cost (% of income per capita) 57.6 Cost (% of property value) 6.5 Reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index (0–8) 7 Quality of land administration index (0–30) 23.5 Enforcing contracts (rank) 3 Score for enforcing contracts (0–100) 57.57 Time (days) 670 Cost (% of claim value) 26.3 Quality of judicial processes index (0–18) 8.5 STARTING A BUSINESS IN IRELAND – PROCEDURES REQUIRED TO START A BUSINESS, BY CITY Standard company legal form: Private Limited Liability Company Paid-in minimum capital requirement: none Data as of: May 1, 2019 Cork Dublin Galway Limerick Waterford Comments 1. File necessary materials with the The forms are completed electronically, including the model Companies Registration Office (CRO) Time (days) 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 constitution, signature pages are printed, signed and posted to the CRO. A registration fee of EUR 100 is charged, if application Cost (EUR) 50 50 50 50 50 is submitted on paper. If using model company incorporation documents online, the fee is reduced to EUR 50. 2. Obtain a company seal Time (days) 1 1 1 1 1 In addition to getting a company seal, the company must keep the statutory registers for the directors and shareholders. Cost (EUR) 20.3 20.3 20.3 20.3 20.3 3. Register for corporation tax, social One application is needed to register for corporation and VAT insurance (PAYE/PRSI), and VAT with the Time (days) 9 7 5 9 9 taxes, as well as for social insurance (PAYE/PRSI). One Tax ID Revenue Commissioners number is valid for all tax registrations. VAT registration can take Cost (EUR) No cost No cost No cost No cost no cost several weeks, as the Revenue Commissioners carry out more background checks to ensure the validity of the registration. Source: Doing Business database. CITY SNAPSHOTS AND INDICATOR DETAILS 39 Ireland 40 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY Procedure 7. Submit a commencement Procedure 4. Request and obtain notice planning permission LIST OF PROCEDURES Agency: Building Control Department, Cork Agency: Planning Department, Dun Laoghaire DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION City Council Rathdown County Council PERMITS Time: Less than one day (online procedure) Time: 90 days Cost: EUR 30 Cost: EUR 102,357 (EUR 3.60 per sq. m. for IRELAND planning permission + EUR 75.10 per sq. m. for Cork Procedure 8. Request water and sewage development contribution) connection Ireland Warehouse value: EUR 2,607,072 (US$2,968,000) Procedure 5*. Request and obtain fire Agency: Irish Water Data as of: May 1, 2019 safety and disability access certificates Time: 1 day Cost: EUR 490 Agency: Planning Department, Dun Laoghaire Procedure 1. Publish notice of Rathdown County Council construction in approved newspaper Time: 90 days Agency: Newspaper Procedure 9. Receive inspection for Cost: EUR 4,272 [EUR 2.90 per sq. m. (with a Time: 1 day feasibility of the connections and obtain minimum of EUR 125 and a maximum of connection offer EUR 12,500) for fire safety certificate + Cost: EUR 150 Agency: Irish Water EUR 500 for disability access certificate] Time: 21 days Procedure 2*. Obtain an ordnance Cost: No cost survey map Procedure 6. Submit a commencement Agency: Ordnance Survey Ireland notice Time: Less than one day (online procedure) Procedure 10. Obtain water and sewage Agency: Planning Department, Dun Laoghaire connection Rathdown County Council Cost: EUR 77 [EUR 63.86 (exclusive of VAT) for minimum of 4 hectares and EUR 12.85 Agency: Irish Water Time: Less than one day (online procedure) (exclusive of VAT) for the copyright license] Time: 26 days Cost: EUR 30 Cost: No cost Procedure 3. Hold a pre-planning Procedure 7. Request water and sewage meeting with the Building Control Procedure 11. Submit the certificate connection Department of compliance upon completion of Agency: Irish Water Agency: Building Control Department, Cork construction and obtain approval Time: 1 day City Council Agency: Building Control Department, Cork Cost: EUR 490 Time: 24 days City Council Cost: No cost Time: 21 days Procedure 8. Receive inspection for Cost: No cost feasibility of the connections and obtain Procedure 4. Request and obtain connection offer planning permission Dublin Agency: Irish Water Agency: Building Control Department, Cork Time: 7 days Warehouse value: EUR 2,607,072 (US$2,968,000) City Council Cost: No cost Data as of: May 1, 2019 Time: 105 days Cost: EUR 73,408 (EUR 3.60 per sq. m. for Procedure 9. Obtain water and sewage planning permission + EUR 52.8417 per sq. m. Procedure 1. Publish notice of construction in approved newspaper connection for development contribution) Agency: Irish Water Agency: Newspaper Time: 21 days Procedure 5*. Receive site inspection Time: 1 day Cost: No cost from Building Control Department Cost: EUR 150 Agency: Building Control Department, Cork City Council Procedure 2*. Obtain an ordnance Procedure 10. Submit the certificate Time: 1 day survey map of compliance upon completion of Agency: Ordnance Survey Ireland construction and obtain approval Cost: No cost Agency: Planning Department, Dun Laoghaire Time: Less than one day (online procedure) Rathdown County Council Procedure 6*. Request and obtain fire Cost: EUR 77 [EUR 63.86 (exclusive of VAT) Time: 21 days safety and disability access certificates for minimum of 4 hectares and EUR 12.85 (exclusive of VAT) for the copyright license] Cost: No cost Agency: Building Control Department, Cork City Council Time: 65 days Procedure 3. Hold a pre-planning Cost: EUR 4,272 [EUR 2.90 per sq. m. (with a meeting with the Planning Department minimum of EUR 125 and a maximum of EUR Agency: Planning Department, Dun Laoghaire 12,500) for fire safety certificate + EUR 500 for Rathdown County Council disability access certificate] Time: 21 days Cost: No cost *Simultaneous with previous procedure CITY SNAPSHOTS AND INDICATOR DETAILS 41 Procedure 8. Receive inspection for Time: 60 days Galway feasibility of the connections and obtain Cost: EUR 4,272 [EUR 2.90 per sq. m. (with a Warehouse value: EUR 2,607,072 (US$2,968,000) connection offer minimum of EUR 125 and a maximum of Data as of: May 1, 2019 Agency: Irish Water EUR 12,500) for fire safety certificate + EUR 500 for disability access certificate] Time: 21 days Procedure 1. Publish notice of Cost: No cost construction in approved newspaper Procedure 6. Submit a commencement Agency: Newspaper Procedure 9. Obtain water and sewage notice Time: 1 day Agency: Fire Safety and Building Control connection Ireland Cost: EUR 150 Department, Limerick City and County Council Agency: Irish Water Time: Less than one day (online procedure) Time: 33 days Cost: EUR 30 Procedure 2*. Obtain an ordnance Cost: No cost survey map Agency: Ordnance Survey Ireland Procedure 7. Request water and sewage Procedure 10. Submit the certificate Time: Less than one day (online procedure) connection of compliance upon completion of Cost: EUR 77 [EUR 63.86 (exclusive of VAT) Agency: Irish Water construction and obtain approval for minimum of 4 hectares and EUR 12.85 Time: 1 day Agency: Planning Department, Galway City (exclusive of VAT) for the copyright license] Cost: EUR 490 Council Time: 21 days Procedure 3. Hold a pre-planning Cost: No cost Procedure 8. Receive inspection for meeting with the Planning Department feasibility of the connections and obtain Agency: Planning Department, Galway City connection offer Council Limerick Agency: Irish Water Time: 21 days Warehouse value: EUR 2,607,072 (US$2,968,000) Time: 14 days Cost: No cost Data as of: May 1, 2019 Cost: No cost Procedure 4. Request and obtain Procedure 1. Publish notice of Procedure 9. Obtain water and sewage planning permission construction in approved newspaper connection Agency: Planning Department, Galway City Agency: Newspaper Agency: Irish Water Council Time: 1 day Time: 26 days Time: 90 days Cost: EUR 150 Cost: No cost Cost: EUR 22,891 (EUR 3.60 per sq. m. for planning permission + EUR 14 per sq. m. for Procedure 2*. Obtain an ordnance Procedure 10. Submit the certificate development contribution) survey map of compliance upon completion of Agency: Ordnance Survey Ireland construction and obtain approval Procedure 5*. Request and obtain fire Time: Less than one day (online procedure) Agency: Fire Safety and Building Control safety and disability access certificates Cost: EUR 77 [EUR 63.86 (exclusive of VAT) Department, Limerick City and County Council Agency: Planning Department, Galway City for minimum of 4 hectares and EUR 12.85 Time: 14 days Council (exclusive of VAT) for the copyright license] Cost: No cost Time: 84 days Cost: EUR 4,272 [EUR 2.90 per sq. m. (with a Procedure 3. Hold a pre-planning minimum of EUR 125 and a maximum of Waterford meeting with the Planning Department EUR 12,500) for fire safety certificate + Agency: Planning Department, Limerick City Warehouse value: EUR 2,607,072 (US$2,968,000) EUR 500 for disability access certificate] and County Council Data as of: May 1, 2019 Time: 18 days Procedure 6. Submit a commencement Cost: No cost Procedure 1. Publish notice of notice construction in approved newspaper Agency: Planning Department, Galway City Agency: Newspaper Council Procedure 4. Request and obtain planning permission Time: 1 day Time: Less than one day (online procedure) Agency: Planning Department, Limerick City Cost: EUR 150 Cost: EUR 30 and County Council Time: 90 days Procedure 2*. Obtain an ordnance Procedure 7. Request water and sewage Cost: EUR 56,706 (EUR 3.60 per sq. m. for survey map connection planning permission + EUR 40 per sq. m. for Agency: Ordnance Survey Ireland Agency: Irish Water development contribution) Time: Less than one day (online procedure) Time: 1 day Cost: EUR 77 [EUR 63.86 (exclusive of VAT) Cost: EUR 490 Procedure 5*. Request and obtain fire for minimum of 4 hectares and EUR 12.85 safety and disability access certificates (exclusive of VAT) for the copyright license] Agency: Fire Safety and Building Control Department, Limerick City and County Council *Simultaneous with previous procedure 42 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY Procedure 3. Hold a pre-planning meeting with the Planning Department Agency: Planning Department, Waterford City and County Council Time: 14 days Cost: No cost Procedure 4. Request and obtain planning permission Ireland Agency: Planning Department, Waterford City and County Council Time: 90 days Cost: EUR 28,093 (EUR 3.60 per sq. m. for planning permission + EUR 18 per sq. m. for development contribution) Procedure 5*. Request and obtain fire safety and disability access certificates Agency: Fire Safety Unit and Building Control Unit, Emergency Services Department, Waterford City and County Council Time: 58 days Cost: EUR 4,272 [EUR 2.90 per sq. m. (with a minimum of EUR 125 and a maximum of EUR 12,500) for fire safety certificate + EUR 500 for disability access certificate] Procedure 6. Submit a commencement notice Agency: Building Control Unit, Emergency Services Department, Waterford City and County Council Time: Less than one day (online procedure) Cost: EUR 30 Procedure 7. Request water and sewage connection Agency: Irish Water Time: 1 day Cost: EUR 490 Procedure 8. Receive inspection for feasibility of the connections and obtain connection offer Agency: Irish Water Time: 7 days Cost: No cost Procedure 9. Obtain water and sewage connection Agency: Irish Water Time: 30 days Cost: No cost Procedure 10. Submit the certificate of compliance upon completion of construction and obtain approval Agency: Planning Department, Waterford City and County Council Time: 14 days Cost: No cost *Simultaneous with previous procedure CITY SNAPSHOTS AND INDICATOR DETAILS 43 DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS IN IRELAND – BUILDING QUALITY CONTROL INDEX All cities Answer Score Building quality control index (0–15) 13 Quality of building regulations index (0–2) 2 Ireland How accessible are building laws and regulations in your economy? (0–1) Available online; Free of charge. 1 Which requirements for obtaining a building permit are clearly specified in the building List of required documents; Fees to be paid; Required 1 regulations or on any accessible website, brochure or pamphlet? (0–1) preapprovals. Quality control before construction index (0–1) 1 Which third-party entities are required by law to verify that the building plans are in Licensed architect; Licensed engineer 1 compliance with existing building regulations? (0–1) Quality control during construction index (0–3) 3 What types of inspections (if any) are required by law to be carried out during Inspections by in-house engineer; Inspections by external 2 construction? (0–2) engineer or firm; Risk-based inspections. Do legally mandated inspections occur in practice during construction? (0–1) Mandatory inspections are always done in practice. 1 Quality control after construction index (0–3) 3 Is there a final inspection required by law to verify that the building was built in Yes, final inspection is done by government agency; Yes, 2 accordance with the approved plans and regulations? (0–2) in-house engineer submits report for final inspection. Do legally mandated final inspections occur in practice? (0–1) Final inspection always occurs in practice. 1 Liability and insurance regimes index (0–2) 0 Which parties (if any) are held liable by law for structural flaws or problems in the No party is held liable under the law. 0 building once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability or Decennial Liability)? (0–1) Which parties (if any) are required by law to obtain an insurance policy to cover possible No party is required by law to obtain insurance. 0 structural flaws or problems in the building once it is in use? (0–1) Professional certifications index (0–4) 4 What are the qualification requirements for the professional responsible for verifying Minimum number of years of experience; University 2 that the architectural plans or drawings are in compliance with existing building degree in architecture or engineering; Being a registered regulations? (0–2) architect or engineer. What are the qualification requirements for the professional who supervises the Minimum number of years of experience; University 2 construction on the ground? (0–2) degree in engineering, construction or construction management; Being a registered architect or engineer. Source: Doing Business database. Ireland 44 GETTING ELECTRICITY IN IRELAND – PROCEDURES REQUIRED TO OBTAIN A NEW ELECTRICITY CONNECTION, BY CITY Name of utility: Electricity Supply Board (ESB) Data as of: May 1, 2019 Cork Dublin Galway Limerick Waterford Comments 1. Submit application to Electricity Supply Board The client needs to first obtain an ordnance survey map (ESB) Networks (scale 1:2500-1:10560) that shows the location of the new Time (days) 12 14 11 7 5 premises and a detailed site plan (scale 1:100-1:500). The customer completes the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) Networks application form (NC3) available on utility's website and submits it with the load details and the ordnance survey map to the Cost (EUR) No cost central office for application management at ESB Networks Service Bureau located in Cork city. 2. Receive external inspection by ESB Networks After the application has been received, an inspection takes and await estimate place. The client then receives a reference number, along with a Time (days) 5 4 4 7 5 quote and a connection agreement. This agreement includes (i) the meter point reference number (MPRN), a unique reference number that identifies the connection point; and (ii) the maximum import capacity (MIC) of the new premises, which Paid in indicates the electricity capacity. The connection and metering Cost (EUR) 7,408 7,408 7,408 7,408 procedure 4 fees for a 140 kVa connection are around EUR 7,730 (for Dublin, this cost is include under procedure 4). 3. Obtain road opening license from the City Not required The client's contractor applies for a road opening license at the Time (days) 7 14 10 9 Council in this city Roads and Transport Directorate. Cost (EUR) 400 450 558 270 4. Await completion of external works by the In Dublin, the external connection works are usually carried out client's electrical contractor or by ESB Time (days) 16 60 14 18 18 by the utility while in all other cities the works are conducted by the client's contractor. The cost of trenching is estimated at EUR 148.60 per linear meter. Cost (EUR) 22,290 29,698 22,290 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY 5. Submit customer’s electrician's completion While customers are awaiting their connection agreement, the certificate Time (days) 1 1 1 1 1 applicant’s registered electrical contractor (REC) must submit a Safe Electric Completion Certificate for the electrical installation. If all information are in compliance with the Electricity Cost (EUR) 87 Regulation Act 1999, then Safe Electric notifies ESB Networks and electricity supply can be turned on. 6. Sign supply contract with an electricity If the customer’s maximum import capacity is greater than supplier and obtain meter installation and final Time (days) 7 7 6 7 7 or equal to 30kVA, the client must register with an electricity connection from ESB Networks supplier of their choice. Once the supply contract has been signed, the supplier will pass on the information to ESB Cost (EUR) No cost Networks, which will then proceed to finalize the connection without further involvement with the customer. Source: Doing Business database. *Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. CITY SNAPSHOTS AND INDICATOR DETAILS 45 GETTING ELECTRICITY IN IRELAND – RELIABILITY OF SUPPLY AND TRANSPARENCY OF TARIFFS INDEX 8 (Dublin, Cork, Limerick) Reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index (0–8) 7 (Galway, Waterford) 3 (Cork, Dublin, Limerick) Total duration and frequency of outages per customer a year (0–3) 2 (Galway, Waterford) System average interruption duration index (SAIDI) 0.50 (Limerick) 0.80 (Dublin) Ireland 0.95 (Cork) 1.20 (Waterford) 1.30 (Galway) System average interruption frequency index (SAIFI) 0.44 (Limerick) 0.57 (Dublin) 0.67 (Cork) 0.80 (Galway) 1.20 (Waterford) Mechanisms for monitoring outages (0–1) 1 (all cities) Does the distribution utility use automated tools to monitor outages? Yes (all cities) Mechanisms for restoring service (0–1) 1 (all cities) Does the distribution utility use automated tools to restore service? Yes (all cities) Regulatory monitoring (0–1) 1 (all cities) Does a regulator—that is, an entity separate from the utility—monitor the utility’s performance on reliability of supply? Yes (all cities) Financial deterrents aimed at limiting outages (0–1) 1 (all cities) Does the utility either pay compensation to customers or face fines by the regulator (or both) if outages exceed a certain cap? Yes (all cities) Communication of tariffs and tariff changes (0–1) 1 (all cities) Are effective tariffs available online? Yes (all cities) Are customers notified of a change in tariff ahead of the billing cycle? Yes (all cities) Source: Doing Business database. Ireland 46 REGISTERING PROPERTY IN IRELAND – PROCEDURES REQUIRED TO REGISTER A PROPERTY, BY CITY Property value: EUR 2,607,072 Data as of: May 1, 2019 Cork Dublin Galway Limerick Waterford Comments 1. Conveyancing and standard The Incorporated Law Society of Ireland has a comprehensive set requisitions on title ordered by the of conveyancing documents being standard requisitions on title Incorporated Law Society of Ireland Time (days) 25 20 18 15 30 investigating various matters including the following: services, easements and rights, obligations, outgoings, bankruptcy, taxation, building control and environmental regulations, fire services and Cost (EUR) (EUR 100 for (legal fees paid in (EUR 55 for (EUR 30 for (EUR 100 for health and safety, etc. planning search, Procedure 3) planning search, planning search, planning search, In addition, an architect often performs a planning search – a legal fees paid in legal fees paid in legal fees paid in legal fees paid in review of planning documentation pertaining to the transacted Procedure 3) Procedure 3) Procedure 3) Procedure 3) property - to identify any limitations on the property uses (this is done a the city or county council offices). 2. Obtain official certified copies of Time (days) 3 Applications for a certified copy of the Folio and Title Plan can the property's folio and title map* be made online on the website Landdirect.ie. Paper copies are Cost (EUR) 40 delivered to the applicant within 3 days of request. 3. Lawyer drafts contract and Time (days) 1 The vendor's lawyer would draft the sale-purchase agreement, contracts are exchanged whilst the purchaser's lawyer would draft the deed which effects Cost (EUR) 13,035 (between 0.25% and 0.75% of property value) the title transfer. 4. Submission of documents to This procedure involves submission of documents to Revenue Revenue Commissioners Time (days) Less than one day (procedure conducted online) Commissioners for payment of stamp duty & impression of “Particular Delivered” stamp. Since January 1, 2010, the stamping of deeds is done online. The stamp duty is submitted electronically Cost (EUR) 156,424 (6% of the value of the property for non-residential properties) to the Revenue Commissioners, which in turn sends a certificate of confirmation of stamping via email to the purchaser's solicitor. 5. Lodgment of application for Once the title deed to the purchaser has been stamped, it can be registration at the Land Registry Time (days) 20 10 15 20 20 registered at the Land Registry using the application Form 17. A DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY facility to make an application for registration electronically via the PRA's electronic access system is available while the supporting documents are sent by post ( mailing usually takes 2 days) Cost (EUR) 800 Supporting documentation will include the deed of transfer and payment of the appropriate fees. Source: Doing Business database. *Simultaneous with a previous procedure. CITY SNAPSHOTS AND INDICATOR DETAILS 47 REGISTERING PROPERTY IN IRELAND – QUALITY OF LAND ADMINISTRATION INDEX (continued) Cork, Dublin and Waterford Galway and Limerick Answer Score Answer Score Quality of the land administration index (0–30) 23.5 25.5 Reliability of infrastructure index (0–8) 8 8 Ireland In what format are the majority of title or deed records kept in the largest business Computer/Fully digital 2 Computer/Fully digital 2 city—in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? (0–2) Is there an electronic database for checking for encumbrances (liens, mortgages, Yes 1 Yes 1 restrictions and the like)? (0–1) In what format are the majority of maps of land plots kept in the largest business Computer/Fully digital 2 Computer/Fully digital 2 city—in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? (0–2) Is there an electronic database for recording boundaries, checking plans and providing Yes 1 Yes 1 cadastral information (geographic information system)? (0–1) Is the information recorded by the immovable property registration agency and Single database 1 Single database 1 the cadastral or mapping agency kept in a single database, in different but linked databases or in separate databases? (0–1) Do the immovable property registration agency and cadastral or mapping agency use Yes 1 Yes 1 the same identification number for properties? (0–1) Transparency of information index (0–6) 4.5 4.5 Who is able to obtain information on land ownership at the agency in charge of Freely accessible 1 Freely accessible 1 immovable property registration in the city? (0–1) by anyone by anyone Is the list of documents that are required to complete any type of property transaction Yes, online 0.5 Yes, online 0.5 made publicly available–and if so, how? (0–0.5) Is the applicable fee schedule for any property transaction at the agency in charge Yes, online 0.5 Yes, online 0.5 of immovable property registration in the city made publicly available–and if so, how? (0–0.5) Does the agency in charge of immovable property registration commit to delivering a Yes 0.5 Yes 0.5 legally binding document that proves property ownership within a specific time frame– and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? (0–0.5) Is there a specific and separate mechanism for filing complaints about a problem that No 0 No 0 occurred at the agency in charge of immovable property registration? (0–1) Are there publicly available official statistics tracking the number of transactions at the Yes 0.5 Yes 0.5 immovable property registration agency? (0–0.5) Who is able to consult maps of land plots in the largest business city? (0–0.5) Freely accessible 0.5 Freely accessible 0.5 by anyone by anyone Is the applicable fee schedule for accessing maps of land plots made publicly Yes, online 0.5 Yes, online 0.5 available—and if so, how? (0–0.5) Does the cadastral or mapping agency commit to delivering an updated map within a Yes, online 0.5 Yes, online 0.5 specific time frame—and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? (0–0.5) Is there a specific and separate mechanism for filing complaints about a problem that No 0 No 0 occurred at the cadastral or mapping agency? (0–0.5) Geographic coverage index (0–8) 4 6 Are all privately held land plots in the economy formally registered at the immovable No 0 No 0 property registry? (0–2) Are all privately held land plots in the city formally registered at the immovable No 0 Yes 2 property registry? (0–2) Are all privately held land plots in the economy mapped? (0–2) Yes 2 Yes 2 Are all privately held land plots in the city mapped? (0–2) Yes 2 Yes 2 Land dispute resolution index (0–8) 7 7 Does the law require that all property sale transactions be registered at the immovable Yes 1.5 Yes 1.5 property registry to make them opposable to third parties? (0–1.5) Is the system of immovable property registration subject to a state or private Yes 0.5 Yes 0.5 guarantee? (0–0.5) 48 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY REGISTERING PROPERTY IN IRELAND – QUALITY OF LAND ADMINISTRATION INDEX (continued) Cork, Dublin and Waterford Galway and Limerick Answer Score Answer Score Is there a specific compensation mechanism to cover for losses incurred by parties Yes 0.5 Yes 0.5 who engaged in good faith in a property transaction based on erroneous information certified by the immovable property registry? (0–0.5) Does the legal system require a control of legality of the documents necessary for a Yes 0.5 Yes 0.5 Ireland property transaction (e.g., checking the compliance of contracts with requirements of the law)? (0–0.5) Does the legal system require verification of the identity of the parties to a property Yes 0.5 Yes 0.5 transaction? (0–0.5) Is there a national database to verify the accuracy of identity documents? (0–1) Yes 1 Yes 1 How long does it take on average to obtain a decision from the first-instance court for Between 1 2 Between 1 2 such a case (without appeal)? (0–3) and 2 years and 2 years Are there any statistics on the number of land disputes in the first instance? (0–0.5) Yes 0.5 Yes 0.5 Equal access to property rights index (-2–0) 0 0 Do unmarried men and unmarried women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes 0 Yes 0 Do married men and married women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes 0 Yes 0 Source: Doing Business database. CITY SNAPSHOTS AND INDICATOR DETAILS 49 ENFORCING CONTRACTS IN IRELAND – TIME, COST AND QUALITY OF JUDICIAL PROCESSES, BY CITY Time (days) Cost (% of claim) Quality of judicial processes index (0–18) Court structure and Alternative dispute Trial and judgment proceedings (-1–5) Case management Enforcement costs Court automation Filing and service Attorney fees Enforcement of judgment Court costs resolution Total (0–6) (0–4) (0–3) Total Total score Ireland City time cost (0–18) Cork 60 365 90 515 18.4 2.7 5.8 26.8 4.5 1 0.5 2.5 8.5 Dublin 60 500 90 650 18.8 2.3 5.8 26.9 4.5 1 0.5 2.5 8.5 Galway 60 500 180 740 15.5 2.9 5.8 24.2 4.5 1 0.5 2.5 8.5 Limerick 60 500 180 740 18.3 2.9 5.8 27.0 4.5 1 0.5 2.5 8.5 Waterford 60 500 110 670 17.6 2.9 5.8 26.3 4.5 1 0.5 2.5 8.5 Source: Doing Business database. 50 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY ENFORCING CONTRACTS IN IRELAND – QUALITY OF JUDICIAL PROCESSES INDEX Answer Score Quality of judicial processes index (0–18) 8.5 Court structure and proceedings (-1–5) 4.5 Is there a court or division of a court dedicated solely to hearing commercial cases? (0–1.5) Yes 1.5 Small claims court (0–1.5) 1.5 Ireland a. Is there a small claims court or a fast-track procedure for small claims? Yes b. If yes, is self-representation allowed? Yes Is pretrial attachment available? (0–1) Yes 1 Are new cases assigned randomly to judges? (0–1) Yes, but manual 0.5 Does a woman's testimony carry the same evidentiary weight in court as a man's? (-1–0) Yes 0 Case management (0–6) 1 Time standards (0–1) 0 a. Are there laws setting overall time standards for key court events in a civil case? Yes b. If yes, are the time standards set for at least three court events? No c. Are these time standards respected in more than 50% of cases? n.a. Adjournments (0–1) 0 a. Does the law regulate the maximum number of adjournments that can be granted? No b. Are adjournments limited to unforeseen and exceptional circumstances? No c. If rules on adjournments exist, are they respected in more than 50% of cases? n.a. Can two of the following four reports be generated about the competent court: (i) time to disposition report; Yes 1 (ii) clearance rate report; (iii) age of pending cases report; and (iv) single case progress report? (0–1) Is a pretrial conference among the case management techniques used before the competent court? (0–1) No 0 Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court for use by judges? (0–1) No 0 Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court for use by lawyers? (0–1) No 0 Court automation (0–4) 0.5 Can the initial complaint be filed electronically through a dedicated platform within the competent court? (0–1) No 0 Is it possible to carry out service of process electronically for claims filed before the competent court? (0–1) No 0 Can court fees be paid electronically within the competent court? (0–1) No 0 Publication of judgments (0–1) 0.5 a. Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at all levels made available to the general public through No publication in official gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website? b. Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at the appellate and supreme court level made available to the Yes general public through publication in official gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website? Alternative dispute resolution (0–3) 2.5 Arbitration (0–1.5) 1.5 a. Is domestic commercial arbitration governed by a consolidated law or consolidated chapter or section of the Yes applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all its aspects? b. Are there any commercial disputes—aside from those that deal with public order or public policy—that cannot No be submitted to arbitration? c. Are valid arbitration clauses or agreements usually enforced by the courts? Yes Mediation/Conciliation (0–1.5) 1 a. Is voluntary mediation or conciliation available? Yes b. Are mediation, conciliation or both governed by a consolidated law or consolidated chapter or section of the Yes applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all their aspects? c. Are there financial incentives for parties to attempt mediation or conciliation (i.e., if mediation or conciliation is No successful, a refund of court filing fees, income tax credits or the like)? Source: Doing Business database. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 51 Acknowledgments Doing Business in the European Union .doingbusiness.org/EU3) was developed Association of Court Bailiffs (team led by 2020: Greece, Ireland and Italy was by Varun Doiphode, Akash Pradhan and Georgios Mitsis), the Hellenic Association produced by a team led by Trimor Mici, Kamalesh Sengaonkar. The report was of Rural and Surveying Engineers (team led Madalina Papahagi, Tommaso Rooms edited by Rachel Moore Weller, and the by Michalis Kalogiannakis), the Hellenic and Moussa Traore. The team comprised layout produced by Luis Liceaga. Electricity Distribution Network Operator Razvan Antonescu, Luca Bettarelli, and SPEED Development Consultants SA Nicolas Conserva, Margherita Fabbri, The study was funded by the European in Greece; (ii) the Law Society of Ireland Lilla M Fordos, Eleni Founti, Dimitra Commission, Directorate-General Regional (team led by Cormac Ó Culáin), Engineers Christina Heliotis, Joyce Antone Ibrahim, and Urban Policy. It was undertaken under Ireland (team led by Richard Manton), Konstantia Katsouli, Branislav Kralik, the auspices of the Ministry of Development Electric Ireland, ESB Networks and Irish Tiziana Londero, Ioanna Pantelaiou and and Investment (formerly the Ministry of Water in Ireland; (iii) Legance – Avvocati Alberto Pellicano. The report was pre- Economy and Development) of Greece; Associati (team led by Cecilia Carrara and pared under the direction of Pilar Salgado the Department of Finance in Ireland; and Francesca Salerno), the National Council Otónel. the Ministry of Economic Development of of Italian Engineers, the National Council Italy. Valuable assistance was provided by of Notaries, the National Association of The team is grateful for valuable peer city halls across Greece and Ireland and Builders (ANCE), a2a Unareti, Areti, review comments provided by col- chambers of commerce in Italy, which e-distribuzione, and Ireti in Italy. leagues from across the World Bank hosted meetings between the project team Group. Isfandyar Zaman Khan, Valeria and local public officials during the imple- More than 600 lawyers, notaries, engi- Perotti and Alessio Zanelli reviewed mentation phase. neers, electricians, architects, construc- the full text. Experts in each of the five tion experts, utility providers, public areas measured were consulted when The project team extends special officials, judges and enforcement agents drafting the individual chapters: Albert thanks for information and assistance contributed to Doing Business in the Nogués i Comas, Cyrianne Coste, Klaus provided throughout the project to (i) European Union 2020: Greece, Ireland and Decker, Marie Lily Delion, Maria Antonia the General Secretariat of Commerce, Italy. The team would like to express its Quesada Gamez, Maksym Iavorskyi, Aris the Hellenic Cadastre, the Ministry of special gratitude to the national and local Molfetas-Lygkiaris, Frederic Meunier, Justice and the Regulatory Authority public officials and members of the judi- Nadia Novik, George Papakyriakopoulos, for Energy (RAE) of Greece; (ii) the ciary who participated in the project and Marion Pinto, Silvia Carolina Lopez Commission for Regulation of Utilities, who made valuable comments during the Rocha, Jayashree Srinivasan, Erick Tjong the Companies Registration Office, the consultation and data review period. The and Wael Zakout. Courts Service Ireland, the Department names of those wishing to be acknowl- of Justice and Equality, the Property edged are listed on the following pages. Arup Banerji, Marta Mueller Guicciardini, Registration Authority and the Revenue Marcus Bernhard Heinz, Jakob Kopperud, Commissioners of Ireland; and (iii) Rita Ramalho and Nikolaos Schmidt the National Agency for Active Labour provided guidance and leadership. Policies (ANPAL), the Italian Regulatory Antonio Borges, Valeria Dessolis, Authority for Energy, Networks and Xhuliano Dule, Daria Goldstein, Marko Environment (ARERA), the Bank of Italy, Grujicic, Iva Hamel, Katherine Angela the Ministry of Justice, the Revenue Haynes, Zeljko Horvat, Anna Karpets, Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) and Monique Pelloux, Patrizia Poggi and Unioncamere in Italy. Serge Randriamiharisoa provided valu- able assistance at various stages of the Data collection was carried out in col- project. The communication campaign laboration with (i) Rokas International Law was designed and led by Chisako Fukuda Firm (team led by Alkistis Christofilou and in collaboration with Oliver Joy and Kym Mira Todorovic Symeonides), the Technical Smithies. The website (http://www Chamber of Greece (TEE), the Hellenic 52 DOING BUSINESS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020: GREECE, IRELAND AND ITALY PRIVATE SECTOR Cormac Little William Fry WATERFORD Simon Dunne CONTRIBUTORS Garland Gerard Howard James William Fry John B White IRELAND Paul Heaney JBW Consultants CPA Ireland Morette Kinsella CORK Kinsella Solicitors Patrick Moriarty Colin Short CDGA Engineering Consultants Ltd Julie Burmingham Cormac Bradley M.W. Keller & Son Solicitors Alison Kelleher Comyn Kelleher Tobin Thomas Carroll GALWAY M.W. Keller & Son Solicitors Barry Murphy David Higgins Comyn Kelleher Tobin Berwick Solicitors Gerard O’Herlihy Nolan Farrell & Goff David Ryan Ronan Murphy Comyn Kelleher Tobin Berwick Solicitors Ger Shelly PM Group Hilda O’Keeffe Laura Lynch Comyn Kelleher Tobin  Laura Lynch & Associates Tony McGrath PM Group Cormac FitzGerald Cathal Hester Fitzgerald & Partners Kinsale LK Shields Solicitors Brian Hogan PricewaterhouseCoopers Eamon Sheehan Elaine Hughes H&MV Engineering LK Shields Solicitors Ronan Meally Ronan Meally Consulting Engineers Robert Kelly Philip Ryan Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail MacSweeney & Company Kieran Moran Sorcha Burke JRAP O’Meara MacSweeney & Company Simon Murphy Michael F Dolan JRAP O’Meara Michael F. Dolan & Co. James Hughes James Molloy Moore Stephens Molloy Consulting Maria O’Donoghue Michael McDonnell Ronan Daly Jermyn TOBIN Consulting Engineers Sinead Corcoran Ian Fennell Ronan Daly Jermyn DUBLIN LIMERICK Barry Wall Brian Hughes AECOM Brady Hughes Consulting Bowline Risk Management Ltd Nigel Gaule Gaule Bermingham and Jarlath O’Keefe Co Accountants Grant Thornton H&MV Engineering Anne Gunnell Irish Tax Institute George Kennedy Holmes O’Malley Sexton Solicitors Alan McHugh Kirby Group Engineering Pat McInerney Holmes O’Malley Sexton Solicitors Kevin Geraghty Kirby Group Engineering Caroline Meaney Keating Connolly Sellors   Stephen Kavanagh Kirby Group Engineering Brendan Gill Maurice Power Solicitors Cormac O’Culain Law Society of Ireland James Molloy Molloy Consulting Jacinta O’Sullivan Patrick F. O’Reilly & Co. Ger Shelly PM Group Michael Crowley Patrick F. O’Reilly & Co. Tony McGrath PM Group Patricia Heavey Patrick F. O’Reilly & Co. Kevin Mullery PUNCH Consulting Engineers Brian Purcell Purcell McQuillan Robert Reidy Tax Partners Ltd. University of Limerick Brendan Sharkey Reddy Charlton Elaine McGrath Reddy Charlton Andrew Muckian William Fry ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 53 PUBLIC SECTOR Gerland Moyles Revenue Commissioners Bryan O’Kane Waterford City and CONTRIBUTORS County Council John Rea Revenue Commissioners Colum Flynn IRELAND Waterford City and Peter Redmond County Council Revenue Commissioners CORK David Hourigan Ann Doherty Sean Nolan Waterford City and Cork City Council Revenue Commissioners County Council Cian Rohan Tom O’Connel Jim O’Mahony Cork City Council Revenue Commissioners Waterford City and County Council Eileen Doyle Cork City Council GALWAY Niall Curtin Marian Chambers Higgins   Waterford City and Fergus Gleeson Department of Justice and Equality County Council Cork City Council Brian Barrett Patrick McCarthy John Hallahan Galway City Council Waterford City and Cork City Council County Council Elizabeth Fanning Michael Mansell Galway City Council Cork City Council Emma Silke Pat Ledwidge Galway City Council Cork City Council Joe McGuire Sean Lynch Galway City Council Cork City Council Kieran McGann Pat O’Flaherty Galway City Council Irish Water Liam Blake Gerard O’Brien Galway City Council Raymond O’Reilly DUBLIN Galway City Council Commission for Regulation of Utilities Eugene Finneran Property Registration Authority Adrienne Healy Companies Registration Office James O’Boyle Property Registration Authority Claudine Forrest Companies Registration Office   Karen Fergus Kevin O’Neill Courts Service LIMERICK Brid Burke Noel Rubotham Limerick City and County Council Courts Service Carl Weaver Des O’Leary Limerick City and County Council Department of Finance Charles McCarthy Luke Devoy Limerick City and County Council Department of Finance Hugh McGrath Lynda Conlon Limerick City and County Council Department of Finance Karen Burke Patrick Mulhall Limerick City and County Council Department of Finance Pat Daly Helena Cunningham Limerick City and County Council Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Pat Fitzgerald Limerick City and County Council Manus O’Donnell Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Martin Halpin County Council Property Registration Authority Mary Henchy Gerald Keys Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Patrick Wallace Owen Laverty Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown WATERFORD County Council John Morrissey Jeffrey Walsh ESB Networks Electric Ireland Liam Molloy Bryan Rogers ESB Networks ESB Networks John O’Shaughnessy Noel Kavanagh Irish Water ESB Networks Martin Halpin Aidan Timmins Property Registration Authority Property Registration Authority c d www.doingbusiness.org/EU3