Dan Neville (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate on the Companies (Amendment) Bill 2014 which deals with the current situation regarding examinership. Deputy Donnelly must be congratulated on the work he has put into the Bill as well as for bringing it before the House. He has sparked an important debate on the issue of examinership. We are talking about the survival of small, medium and large companies, as well as the maintenance of jobs within such organisations.

I have introduced Private Members' Bills in the past, so I can appreciate that such measures may be rejected for various reasons. I have also seen how they can contribute to future legislation, however. At least two or three times over the years, I have seen work I did on a Bill being rejected but being reintroduced by the Government of the day at a later stage. Therefore any contribution such as this is important in terms of progressing a debate on the issue and prompting the powers that be to respond to the needs expressed within the Bill.

Both Deputy Donnelly's Bill and the company law review group, established by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, accept that examinership should continue to be the vehicle to deal with companies in financial difficulty. I welcome the fact that the cost of examinership has been reduced by 70% due to the Minister's decision to move the process from the High Court to the Circuit Court.

Deputy Donnelly put the cost of examinership for an SME company at approximately €70,000. Some such companies might not have three times that figure as an annual turnover, yet they are in trouble as well. They may only employ a few people and the owner might have devoted his or her life to building up that company. They then have to go through a process that costs €70,000, most of which is in legal fees. Surely a system of mediation could be introduced to sort out the situation between creditors and the company itself in the interests of preserving jobs. If that had been done ten years ago we might not have the current levels of unemployment. The objective is to preserve jobs and keep small businesses in operation.

I was appalled to hear that the cost of examinership could be as high as €350,000. We have been asked by the troika to examine legal costs in Ireland and do something about them. The cost of examinership demonstrates how people can be prevented from seeking court protection because they cannot afford it. In this respect, a company that may have been viable could be put out of business due to the high level of legal fees to go through an examinership.

I welcome the approach of a simplified procedure and the establishment of an agency for preliminary examination. I welcome the commitment of the Minister, Deputy Bruton, to this. I hope the agency will involve itself in the suggestion I made regarding a less formal way of sorting out difficulties.

Creditors of companies in difficulty must get equal hearing. I have been through difficulties with small contractors and subcontractors prior to the legislation going through last year. Jobs were certainly lost and small businesses went into liquidation because of large contractors. There is a problem with that and it was well expressed during the debate so I do not intend repeating it now. I welcome the initiative of Deputy Stephen Donnelly in creating this discussion.

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