The Companies Registration Office is offering an online search facility of its database following an agreement with CFI Online, a Dublin firm that got an injunction to stop the service in 1999.

The agreement, which has yet to be formalised, will enable the Companies Registration Office to provide consumers with a range of financial information. A limited amount of information will be free.

CFI Online, which provides a similar service to businesses and consumers, sought the injunction against the service because it claimed the Companies Registration Office was not providing it with data on a daily basis.

It is understood the the two parties are close to finalising an agreement on this supply of data and this movement has enabled CFI Online to lift the injunction. But the case is still listed for mention in the High Court and is ongoing.

Mr Sean Kavanagh, a director of CFI Online, would not comment on the ongoing court case.

Mr Paul Farrell, registrar of the Companies Registration Office, said he was happy that the service was up and running again. The service would enable registered customers to download company reports, and the office may establish a credit card service to make it more widely available to people shortly, he added.

Meanwhile, officials from the Companies Registration Office will present a paper to a European conference in Norway in June to promote a new file exchange standard, which is based on the XML standard language and would enable European registrars to make data available in all European languages.