Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is available now. It is the account of the failings identified by the judge, who very clearly outlined the issues that needed to be addressed. We have taken all of those on board and they are in the report, which is available. We have acted on many of the issues and we will bring new legislation through which will set up the ODCE as an independent statutory body. It will have autonomy to employ people with the particularly specialised skillset that it needs and the power to go out into the market to get those people. We will also look at giving it additional investigative powers. There are a number of areas the legislation will cover, including enhanced powers to improve search and entry and to gather evidence that is electronically held. There will also be improvements in the supervision of liquidators and a more simplified system when the ODCE has to go to the High Court for access to phone records. Those are extra powers it needs and we will provide for that in the new legislation. I assure the committee it will have an extra €1 million next year to help it to transition to become an independent body. It does very important work in making sure companies operate within the law and it deserves to be supported.

The report is "An account of the shortcomings identified by Judge Aylmer of the Circuit Court concerning an investigation by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement". It is available on the website.