Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy likes to remind me that this legislation is chasing Luxembourg, while I like to remind him that it is not confined to Luxembourg because many of our competitors, including the United Kingdom and France, have similar vehicles in place. I do not have the information the Deputy seeks to hand, but I will examine the matter before Report Stage. The Deputy has correctly noted that no one turns up for the annual general meetings of these types of vehicle because they are not companies in the sense companies are understood in the Companies Acts.

I do not want to have legislation in place that in any way weakens the voice of the auditor. We must learn from the mistakes of the past. I have an open mind on whether the Bill does this and there are some areas I wish to tease out. Given that an extraordinary general meeting cannot be called if the persons seeking such a meeting collectively hold less than 10% of the voting rights in the ICAV, one must ask if an auditor will have an opportunity to address investors. I will consider this matter before Report Stage and would welcome the Deputy's submissions, views or amendments on it.