Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Notwithstanding the fact that the Deputy has been brushing up on his neo-Marxist economic theory - it sounds vaguely familiar from my college days - this question was dealt with comprehensively by the Company Law Review Group, CLRG, in its 2005 report on directors' compliance statements. If members will pardon my use of acronyms, the CLRG decided that such extra duties would do little to increase compliance and would merely result in an increase in red tape at significant cost to business. The set-up cost for a business was an estimated €90,000 and its ongoing annual cost was estimated at €40,000. A streamlined version of the director's compliance statement proposed by the CLRG, which is a statutory body, removed the requirement that the statement should include a declaration that the company had complied with all other enactments that could affect its financial performance. This was found to be the most burdensome aspect of the statement and also the least relevant, as companies were already legally obliged to comply with all Acts of the Oireachtas. Their inclusion in the compliance statement did not add substantive duties.

More than 80% of the CLRG's members, including members representing the Financial Regulator and other public bodies, agreed to a more balanced version of the director's compliance statement. There is a strong EU impetus towards less unnecessary regulation to make EU businesses more competitive. This amendment would create unjustifiable and disproportionate costs on Irish businesses and disadvantage Ireland competitively, as we would have gone beyond other countries. The current compliance statement has received support from industry and regulators alike. For these reasons, it is intended to preserve it in the Bill. Therefore, I am not in favour of adopting the amendment.