Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Reilly for her support in principle for the legislation. I totally accept the concerns about not having pre-legislative scrutiny. I accept that is a process she would not like to see continue. I know we will avoid it as much as we possibly can.

Regarding the other legislation, I hope to have something for the Deputy in the coming week or two. As per my commitment, as soon as I have it, I will share it with everybody, and we will tease it out. I know there has been some engagement with our officials on that piece as well and it can continue because we want to have everybody on board with it is as much as we possibly can.

The rough timeline we expect is that once a process adviser is appointed, he or she has up to 49 days to produce a rescue plan. That is the target. In terms of how long the process will take thereafter, it depends on the rescue plan and what is put in place in that regard. My understanding is that there is no official end time on the process, but the aim is to save companies that are viable and can be protected and to put in place a plan, by agreement, within 49 days.

It is hard to clarify the exact costs that will be involved. At the moment we think the costs of examinership are an issue and a barrier to the process. They are in the region of €80,000 to €120,000 for the normal examinership process. What we expect for this process is somewhere between €20,000 and €50,000. Naturally, if there is full agreement and everyone is on board, there is a quick resolution and a plan is put in place quickly, it could be a lot less. That is roughly what we expect if creditors are in agreement and there is no need to involve the courts in the process. That is based on experience and getting feedback, but I cannot give any guarantees on that. What we hope to do is to put in place a cheaper model if everybody plays his or her part to reduce the costs.