Staff from the office of the Data Protection Commissioner have raided a number of mobile phone text marketing companies.
Commissioner, Billy Hawkes said the inspections follow a "large number" of complaints from members of the public about the activities of certain firms. These mostly related to the sending of unsolicited text messages.
The raids were carried out in co-operation with Regtel, which regulates premium rate mobile phone services.
"As follow-up to the inspections, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner is currently examining large volumes of information with a view to prosecuting those companies that have sent or allowed to be sent unsolicited communications to subscribers or that have failed to comply with their obligations to respect the privacy of individualism," he said.
"I am determined that all involved in this sector will fully respect the privacy of mobile phone subscribers and will not send marketing messages where the person has not sought them. Where we find sufficient evidence of such offences, we will prosecute them," Mr Hawkes said.
He said he would be holding talks with ComReg and the four mobile network operators next week to ensure those found to have broken the laws on text messages are barred from using the networks in the future.