Investors seeking looking to take a punt on Eircom again in the forthcoming flotation will have to move quickly.

With the grey market in the shares due to start in just over a week, brokers are racing to gather applications for stock from clients.

The number of shares available to the public in the retail offering is limited and only those with more than €40,000 to invest will be eligible to apply.

With the shares being held initially in electronic form, members of the public will have to set up an account with a stockbroker.

A spokesman for Goodbody, one of the three stockbrokers involved in the flotation, said it would be possible to issue share certificates but not until the shares start trading on the Dublin and London stock exchanges

"It is a really tight schedule," said Mr Peter Smith. "We are only sending out the prospectuses today and those clients who are interested in taking part will have to have their money and the applications back with us on Monday."

The offering is due to be priced on Thursday, March 18th. Dealing in the "grey market" will commence the following day.

While Goodbody is prepared to send forms out to any investors interested in the Eircom flotation, rival broker Davy will deal only with existing customers or those prepared to first set up an account.

Merrion Stockbrokers, the third company involved in the flotation, is understood to be adopting the same position as Davy.

A spokesman for the Irish Stock Exchange, which regulates the behaviour of the stockbroking industry, said it was a matter for the individual stockbroking firms how they allocated shares among their clients in a situation such as this. "No brokerage is obliged to deal with someone who comes off the street," he said.