Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I also wish to commend Deputy Donnelly for drafting the Bill and bringing it before the House. It is a long process to get it to the point where one feels confident enough to present it. It boils down essentially to the cost of doing business, as well as protecting a business and keeping it viable. In considering this Bill, however, we may have lost sight of the fact that most SMEs do business with other SMEs. In that case, the Bill may tip the balance against a creditor. A domino effect can result whereby the company seeking the protection of examinership can have a knock-on effect. If enacted, the powers of the Bill would put other businesses in jeopardy by seeking examinership and, therefore, instead of reducing costs one would actually compound them. Having read the summary of the Bill, that seems to be a consequence, notwithstanding the fact that what Deputy Donnelly is trying to do is commendable.

The High Court should be removed from the process as far as possible, without removing the courts system itself. The court is an independent arbiter and adjudicator that should be left in the process. If it wishes to take on only an administrative role, then let it do so.

Small businesses around the country depend on credit. There is a story of somebody who spent €50 in a shop. When that €50 note came back to him it had been through 15 different people, but everybody had benefited from it. It is a light-hearted story but it demonstrates how money in circulation can benefit everybody, even though the note in question ended up with the person who had spent it in the first place.

We must be cognisant of the fact that by tilting the balance and ending up with challenges from creditors and landlords, there is a danger that this matter will get bogged down in the legal system to a greater extent that at present.

The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement is beset by delays. When a complaint or request is sent to that office, one cannot expect to see a result for two or three years. Therefore, I do not know if it is fair to involve that office as part of the process at the level proposed by Deputy Donnelly's Bill.

When the Government's Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 is commenced, it will permit small businesses to apply for examinership in the Circuit Court which, as a rule, will result in an average of 30% fewer costs than in the High Court process.

In the main, the Government's Bill covers the same category of businesses as Deputy Donnelly's Bill seeks to assist. They are companies with a balance sheet of less than €4.4 million, a turnover not exceeding €8.8 million, and no more than 50 employees. It is the same cohort of companies that Deputy Donnelly's Bill seeks to address. To be fair, this amending legislation was already proposed at an earlier stage but was rejected on the same grounds that the Government feels it now needs to reject it. For that reason, we should contribute to the Government's Bill and allow its passage. The positive emphasis that Deputy Donnelly's Bill tries to promote is encompassed in the Government's own legislation. It should therefore be accepted in that spirit.

While I cannot support the Bill as presented, I hope the Government's Bill will seek to achieve in a more balanced way the same objectives as Deputy Donnelly's Bill espouses.

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