Late filing penalty fees totalling €7.2m accounted for 37% of the Companies Registration Office's revenues of €19.27m last year.

The beleaguered Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has failed to keep proper accounts, according to its auditors, who have reported the allegation to the body responsible for company law enforcement.

Auditors Deloitte have said the FAI has contravened two sections of the Companies Act 2014.

Arsenal will play their second leg at the Emirates on a Wednesday at 5pm.

Despite the Government’s claims, it seems small businesses are still struggling to secure funding from banks, writes Michael Clifford.

A GP service that closed its clinics owing money to patients and staff has relaunched under a new name.

Income at the Companies Office has fallen as more companies avoided fines by filing on time.

A Government agency tasked with improving SME access to credit has recommended that business owners whose loans have been sold to vulture funds should tap friends and family for cash.

A controversial GP service, where patients pay a membership fee upfront, has been warned to file annual returns by the end of the month or face being dissolved.

RTÉ has defended itself against claims made by Senator David Norris, who has accused it of "squirting accusations" of wrongdoing into the public domain.

The Whitegate oil refinery, which its parent company has confirmed may yet be sold, is significantly loss-making, according to its most recent annual accounts.

The bulk of revenues generated by the Companies Registration Office (CRO) last year came from penalties imposed on companies filing late annual accounts.

A plant hire company owned by colourful Kerry politician Michael Healy-Rae reported accumulated profits of over €345,000 last year, according to accounts filed to the Companies Registration Office (CRO).

The level of lending from the country’s two pillar banks are at their highest levels since 2010 despite the ongoing difficulties of a number of SMEs in obtaining credit.

Manchester City youth team coach Patrick Vieira has been praised for taking his players off the pitch after an alleged racist incident in a pre-season friendly.

The University Concert Hall Limerick (UCH) last year doubled its borrowings from its parent company in the face of further losses at the venue.

A judge has thrown out a Revenue prosecution brought against a company owned by TD Michael Lowry because a court summons was served at an out-of-date address.

About 35% of Ulster Bank’s €6.5bn SME loan book is distressed, management said yesterday.

The outlook for Irish SMEs is improving, but concerns remain, writes Geoff Percival

The strengthening of the power of the Credit Review Office has been hailed as a potentially key breakthrough in small firms’ ongoing battle to access funding.

Bank of Ireland and AIB remain on track to achieve their €4bn SME loan approval targets for 2013, but of the amount sanctioned to date only 34% qualifies as new lending, the Credit Review Office has stated.

UEFA has confirmed that Malaga have had the second year of their European ban lifted but the Champions League quarter-finalists will still be barred from playing in continental competition next season should they qualify.

The publishers of the Irish Daily Mail, Associated Newspapers (Ireland), have reported profits of €1.5m for last year.

Debt forgiveness on some outstanding SME loans will be required to deal with the debt crisis, a Dáil committee was told yesterday.

Bank of Ireland and AIB have said they remain on schedule to meet SME lending targets, despite fresh criticism from the Credit Review Office.

ISME has said it fears more job losses in SMEs after new figures showed further decline last quarter.

The Credit Review Office is urging businesses that have had credit applications unfairly rejected to contact them.

The lack of competition in banking has led to a failure of the two pillar banks to take calculated risks on lending to new businesses according to the credit reviewer John Trethowan.

In the last two years, interventions from the Credit Review Office (CRO) has resulted in nearly €7m being advanced to 69 small firms.

The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises association (Isme) chief executive Mark Fielding has described the Credit Review Office as “a mudguard for the banks”.

A liquidator has been appointed to the companies behind Limerick furniture retailer Instore.

BANK of Ireland (BoI) is in talks with one party on the sale of its British commercial real-estate portfolio, according to comments contained in documents handed out to lawmakers in Dublin, ahead of Finance Minister Michael Noonan’s meetings with the Oireachtas finance committee this week meetings.

SMALL businesses have hit back at the Credit Review Office (CRO) which claims that AIB and Bank of Ireland will fail to meet their €6 billion credit commitments due to a lack of demand for loans.

Business chiefs have today clashed with a Government group tasked with ensuring lenders free up credit, branding it a mouthpiece for the banks.

THE Small Firms Association wants the Department of Finance to commission a survey of companies’ lending needs to counter-act the banking sector’s understatement of the demand for credit.

IRISH companies who have filed a million e-forms with the Companies Registration Office (CRO) have saved €3.9 million annually in fees.

BILL CULLEN, the businessman, television star and board member of the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has emerged as a significant donor to Fianna Fáil during its years in office.

REPRESENTATIVES of the Credit Review Office (CRO) and ISME have been appointed to a new board aimed at improving communication flow between Government and small firms.

A LACK of competition is leading to higher bank charges, according to the country’s small businesses, which also say they are finding it very difficult to get credit.

UP to 569 people forced to wait on trolleys on January 5, and 59 waiting at a single hospital on Monday raise questions about our emergency department crisis.

THE Government has launched a 17-page guide it claims will help small firms access credit and rebuild relationships with the banks.

IRISH limited companies can save a collective €29 million by filing annual accounts online by availing of new procedures permitting company directors to sign the documents electronically.

THE recapitalisation of the country’s two main banks – AIB and Bank of Ireland – has improved the flow of credit to the small business sector, according to the body which was established to oversee corporate lending patterns of NAMA-related banks.