Emailing and calling businesses in Ireland
Can I email businesses from a list in Ireland?
Under Regulation 13 of the ePrivacy Regulations, you must not send marketing email to a company that has told you it does not consent. Email to individuals needs consent, except at an address used mainly for business when the message is about that business. Every email must show who sent it and give a valid address for stop requests.
Main rules: ePrivacy Regulations (S.I. No. 336 of 2011), GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. A summary of the official guidance linked below, checked 2026-11-11; not legal advice.
- Companies and other non-natural persons: do not send if they have told you they do not consent (Regulation 13(4)).
- Individuals need to consent. Regulation 13(2) excludes an address that reasonably appears to be used mainly for their commercial or official activity, if the message relates solely to it.
- Do not disguise or conceal the sender's identity, and include a valid address for stop requests (Regulation 13(12)).
- The DPC says sending electronic marketing to a person who objects is a criminal offence.
Phone calls
- Do not make a marketing call to a subscriber who told you they object, or whose number has an opt-out recorded in the National Directory Database (NDD). The DPC says business numbers can have an NDD preference too.
- Marketing calls to mobile phones need the subscriber's consent.
- Each call must give the caller's name and, if relevant, the name of the business it is made for.
Sources
- Irish Statute Book: S.I. No. 336 of 2011 (ePrivacy Regulations), checked 2026-11-11
- DPC: FAQ on consent for electronic direct marketing, checked 2026-11-11
- DPC: National Directory Database FAQs, checked 2026-11-11
Other countries: outreach rules by country.