Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. I raised this point about the transition period and specific issues about it on Second Stage. I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank him for responding in his Second Stage speech to some of the comments I made. Since Second Stage I have received correspondence from Mr. Brian Walker, who I know has been in touch with many of us to helpfully give us some thoughts on his experience. He is a barrister and has been travelling around the country presenting seminars on the Bill and has met many accountants. He has a question following on from what I said on Second Stage about the transition period and in particular about the commencement date. Clearly, the transition period in section 15 means the period expiring 18 months after the commencement of this section. I realise that section 1 deals with the commencement but can the Minister of State clarify if a commencement date has been set? The Companies Office, according to Mr. Walker, appear to gearing up for a commencement date of 1 January 2015 but I am not sure if that has been agreed or confirmed anywhere.

The reason that is important is that while most practitioners agree the 18-month transitional period is ample and sufficient to allow companies avail of the transition period, they are anxious that many aspects of the Bill would come into force sooner rather than later. Section 16 allows for the extension of the transition period and there is some concern about uncertainty about the actual time period. That is a particular issue.

The other issue of interest is that Mr. Walker points out that there may not be a substantial number of companies making the application to convert over to the new limited company since they may take the view that if it is going to happen automatically at the end of the transition period, it may be simpler to allow the default to occur. Those are some of the issues I raised about the transition and the practical impact of it and I thought it would be worth raising them again under this section.