Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank our witnesses. I congratulate the Department. The overhaul of company law, the corporate enforcement regime and the small company rescue process has involved a significant body of legislation. It will improve levels of compliance and the ease with which the registration and enforcement system is navigated by companies.

It is important to stress that limited liability, which this confers, is an important privilege. It is very important that we have compliance, ease of use and flexibility in the way it is used. Does the Department track any international indicators of factors such as compliance rates? Does it have a network through which information on emerging abuses of corporate structures we should be alert to is shared? On the other side, does the Department track indicators of the cost of establishing small start-ups compared with the cost in other countries or the ease of doing business? Do we have reasonable indicators? How do we stand in that respect? Allied to that, can we expect any significant reforms from either the registrar or the Department that we will need to consider?

The second topic I would like to raise is the experience of the past two years in respect of new businesses starting up and businesses getting into trouble or difficulties or even being taken off the register. Does the Department have any indication of what the impact of Covid has been on the starting up and death of companies? I know there is a bit of an abeyance as a result of the Government supports that are in place but are we likely to see a significant impact on the survival rate of companies when those supports start to be withdrawn?