Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 26:

In page 33, line 20, to delete ", until the contrary is proved,".

The amendments propose to align in sections 40 and 45 the requirements of the directive.

As Deputies will be aware, the Bill transposes the EU accounting directive. That directive provides that the financial statements of micro entities shall be regarded as giving a true and fair view. As a result, the obligations on directors with respect to the true and fair view do not apply to directors of micro entities. That is a useful saving for very small businesses in time and effort. The directive does not permit member states to go beyond that and the other rules that apply to micro entities. However, section 40 provides that the financial statements of a micro company are deemed a true and fair view until the contrary is proved.

Section 45 makes a similar provision with respect to the report of the statutory auditor. This condition appears to introduce a burden on directors that is beyond the requirement of the directive. It also introduces uncertainty and that would undermine the benefit of this provision for micro companies. Therefore, I propose to delete the words "until the contrary is proved".