'Deadwood' add to record number of firms struck off: CRO

More than 20,000 companies were removed from the Company's Registration Office's register in 2003, which saw total the number of fines issued by the CRO top €28m from €12m.

This represents a three-fold increase on the 2002 figure, latest figures have shown.

The majority of firms were struck off involuntarily (14,836) while only 5,483 companies were struck off voluntarily.

According to Companies Registrar, Pat Farrell: "This is an unusually high figure and one that we do not expect to hit again in the foreseeable future.

"Now that we have removed the deadwood from the register we are in a position to start targeting the companies that consistently file late returns."