This Practice Note considers the steps to be taken in progressing and managing a civil claim in Ireland after the lodging of pleadings and before the fixing of a substantive hearing. It provides an overview of the most common forms of action commenced in the High Court, default of defence and trial on a point of law. It considers third party procedure, discovery, interrogatories, inspection of documents and case management. This Practice Note discusses the steps to be taken in progressing and managing a civil claim in Ireland after the lodging of pleadings and before the fixing of a substantive hearing in the High Court. Irish civil procedure provides for a number of procedural rules depending on the nature of the claim and the court in which the case is heard. This Practice Note will consider the specific procedural rules under the following types of civil summonses: • plenary summons • summary summons • special summons • personal injuries summons For guidance on: • issues to consider

This Practice Note is a past-looking tracker that records the progress of Irish legislation (including Acts and Statutory Instruments in force), published judgments of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and relevant High Court decisions as well as closed consultations, government guidance and other relevant developments in the field of property law in Ireland during 2026. This Practice Note provides a summary of the recent key legal developments that are expected to impact Irish property lawyers during 2026 and beyond. Feel free to suggest issues that may be covered in our horizon scanner using: irelandcurrentawareness@lexisnexis.com. To track upcoming legal and regulatory developments for Irish property lawyers see Practice Note: Ireland—Property—horizon scanner—2026. For property developments tracked previously, see Practice Notes: Ireland—Property horizon scanner 2025 [Archived] and Ireland—Property horizon scanner 2024 [Archived]. This Practice Note is intended to work alongside and complement Practice Note: Ireland—Property—horizon scanner—2026 which tracks the progress of future developments, including Bills in progress. When a date has passed within this Horizon Scanner, it is moved to this Practice Note for posterity. For

The properties owned by a company can be acquired by one of two methods: • a purchase of assets owned by the company (an asset purchase), or • a purchase of shares in the company (a share purchase) Asset purchase On an asset purchase: • the buyer acquires the business as a going concern and is able to pick and choose which parts of the business, together with its assets and liabilities it acquires • all of the properties owned, used or occupied by the business must be conveyed, assigned or transferred to the purchaser in the sale documentation The properties will be referred to in the sale agreement and it will be the property interests themselves that are transferred as opposed to the shares in the company. The solicitors' approach to the transaction will differ to that in a share sale as it will be closer in procedure to a typical property acquisition with the contractual provisions being included within the sale agreement. Under the terms of the

This precedent is drafted generically for use in asset or share purchases. It will need to be tailored to the form of disclosure letter being used. Any capitalised terms used in this precedent, where not expressly defined, are assumed to have been defined in the disclosure letters, this should be checked carefully by the seller when drafting. General It is likely that an asset purchase agreement will include warranties that the seller knows to be untrue eg that the seller is not involved in any litigation. The seller will try to limit its exposure under the warranties in a number of ways: • by qualifying the warranties to the knowledge or belief of the Seller and subject to materiality thresholds • by specifically inserting limitations eg time limits in which claims can be made, thresholds in respect of the amount of a claim, etc • by disclosing matters and information which are exceptions to the warranties, collected together in the disclosure letter The disclosure letter is usually addressed to the buyer from the seller. Occasionally

This Practice Note identifies the property elements of the disclosure exercise that is carried out by a seller in connection with the sale of shares in a company (the 'target') governed by Irish law or the assets of a business located in Ireland. It contains details of the disclosure letter and disclosure bundle, together with practical implications for the property solicitor to consider when acting for a buyer or seller. The seller’s property disclosure exercise aims to qualify the property warranties in the asset or share purchase agreement, therefore ensuring that the seller avoids liability for breach of warranty. Where the matter has been properly disclosed, the buyer is unable to sue. From the buyer’s perspective, the disclosure exercise enables the buyer to elicit information relating to the properties owned, used or occupied by the target or business. The buyer must then take a view on the significance of the disclosures and may consider a price renegotiation, further protection in the form of property indemnities or even to withdraw from the acquisition completely. The

This Practice Note provides a summary of the purpose, nature and scope of the property aspects of the due diligence process that is carried out by the buyer in an asset or share purchase transaction. At the outset of a transaction (whether share purchase or asset purchase) there are a number of different issues that the parties will need to consider before beginning the detailed drafting of the acquisition agreement. In larger transactions, it is common to have multidisciplinary legal and professional teams representing both seller and buyer on a range of issues. Invariably property lawyers will form part of this professional team and will need to be involved in undertaking due diligence in relation to property matters feeding into the wider legal due diligence as a whole. The buyer will carry out legal, financial and accounting due diligence into the seller and the target or business and the properties, in order to obtain information, inform its negotiations and plan for the integration of the target or business with its own. The due

Using this precedent This precedent contains the property section of the due diligence questionnaire to be used in asset and share purchase transactions. The capitalised terms used in this precedent may need to be adapted depending on the form of questionnaire used. As part of the transaction the buyer may instruct specialist property advisers to assist with the due diligence (eg environmental consultant, planning consultant or surveyor). The drafter should liaise with any other advisers carrying out due diligence to: • minimise the possible duplication of questions, and • ensure that all areas of concern are raised in good time prior to completion to allow for any necessary negotiations surrounding such areas to take place. The due diligence questionnaire will need to be adapted to the particular target or business according to the buyer’s priorities. The drafter should take instructions on what the intended purpose of the due diligence is. The buyer’s intentions will determine the scope of the request and what is done with the information provided. It is also important to establish

ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note provides a summary of the key legal developments that are expected to impact Irish property lawyers during 2024 and beyond. It also summarises the key developments which have already taken place in 2024. Feel free to suggest issues that may be covered in our horizon scanner using: irelandcurrentawareness@lexisnexis.com. Legislation Please note that the below bills have now lapsed as Dáil Éireann has been dissolved. Legislation Next/last key date Find out more Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2024 18 November 2024 The Act was commenced by SI No 627/2024—Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2024 (Commencement) Order 2024. This Act includes miscellaneous amendments and additions to reflect Government housing priorities to the Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019 and the Affordable Housing Act 2021.A link to the text of the final bill, as passed by the Oireachtas can be found here.Bill tracker: LNB News 10/10/2024 3—Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024 Planning and Development Act 2024 (Ireland) 2 December 2024 The following provisions were commenced by SI

ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note provides a summary of the key legal developments that are expected to impact Irish property lawyers during 2025 and beyond. It also summarises the key developments which have already taken place in 2025. Feel free to suggest issues that may be covered in our horizon scanner using: irelandcurrentawareness@lexisnexis.com. To track legal and regulatory developments relating to other specific topics, see Practice Notes: • for EU-UK environmental law divergence: Environmental law divergence tracker • for key new and upcoming EU environment, social, and governance (ESG) legislation and consultations: EU environment tracker 2025—sustainability and ESG • for key new and upcoming EU legislation and consultations linked to nature conservation, restoration, and protection measures and biodiversity recovery: EU environment tracker 2025—nature and biodiversity • for key judgments and opinions from the General Court of the EU and the Court of Justice of the EU handed down from 1 January 2025 which may be of interest to environment lawyers: EU environment cases tracker 2025 • for key dates and information relating

What are portfolio loans? A portfolio is a collection of investments, eg a collection of properties which may be held by an investment company, hedge fund, financial/pension institution or individuals. In property financing, portfolio investment loans are provided by financiers (banks and non-bank lenders) to borrowers who have or wish to acquire or hold a portfolio of properties for investment. When are portfolio loans suitable? Portfolio loans are suitable where: • there is a mixture of property types, such as office, residential or industrial properties • borrowers wish to acquire a portfolio of properties • borrowers wish to borrow using part of, or all, of their portfolio as security • there are different levels of rental income or fluctuation in income from the portfolio of properties • borrowers are looking to consolidate their borrowings Reasons to consider portfolio financing Larger loan amount The amount is secured against the value of the portfolio as a whole. Lower interest rate The overall risk to the financier is better spread and it does not

Pre-completion Checklist for lender's solicitor Checklist for borrower's solicitor Title information • If the borrower’s solicitor is providing a certificate of title or report on title, ensure the borrower's solicitor has provided a signed engrossment of the certificate of title (or report on title) in the agreed form with all the plans and annexures held to the borrower's solicitors order until the day of completion • If the borrower’s solicitor is providing a certificate of title or report on title, ensure that they have provided evidence of professional indemnity insurance sufficient to meet their liability under the certificate of title • Ensure the borrower's solicitor has put on risk any defective title insurance that is required and confirms payment of the premium prior to completion. Any report on title or certificate of title should also include details of the title insurance policy • Ensure the valuer has confirmed that the valuation is unaffected by the contents of the certificate/report • Provide a signed and dated report to the lender summarising the title

An asset or share purchase agreement will typically include warranties and indemnities given by a seller in favour of a buyer. A warranty is a statement by the seller that a particular fact is true. For example, a seller may warrant that all of the properties have good and marketable title. Property warranties in a share or asset purchase agreement will sit alongside warranties on other areas such as employment and tax or, alternatively, be contained in a separate property schedule appended to the agreement. An indemnity is a contractual obligation on the seller to reimburse the buyer in respect of a designated liability, which may arise in the future. This Practice Note provides a summary of the need for property warranties and indemnities in asset and share purchase transactions, their characteristics, the practical considerations when acting for a buyer or seller and some examples of property warranties. Acting for the buyer Ideally, the buyer should undertake a detailed investigation of the title to the properties involved in the transaction to protect