Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State referred to the principle of proportionality, but the protection afforded to company directors in this instance is entirely disproportionate. There is concern. I appreciate that the Minister of State set out to address my concerns but he did not manage to do so. I do not mean that disrespectfully. I am concerned that the measure could act as a deterrent. A company director could say that if there were sanctions, he or she would end up bankrupt, and that they should not be imposed as a consequence. That is serious.

I understand that the legislation involves the transposition of pre-existing legislation to a large extent but I would be grateful to hear from the Minister of State about how many times the clause in question has been used to ensure financial sanctions would not be imposed. How many company directors have benefited from it? Does the Minister of State believe the enactment of this legislation will ensure a continuation in the same vein? Will there be more seeking to use the clause to ensure they will not have financial sanctions imposed on them because there might be an issue over potential bankruptcy? It is quite hard to prove. Maybe that is a question for another day.

I hope the Minister of State shares my concern over how the measure is going to work and how it could confer a disproportionate advantage on company directors, thereby going against the principle of proportionality, to which he referred. I am interested in hearing how the arrangement works at present. How many have used it? If it is the case that it is not used, it might give me some comfort. I suspect it is used. I would be interested in hearing from the Minister of State the number of times the clause was invoked and how it works.