Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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It was a genuine oversight. I do not know at what point this issue was raised specifically. This was an inadvertent oversight in an Act that runs to 2,500 sections. On the issue of tactical insolvencies, the Companies Act 2014 sets out, in section 599, additional protections for workers and creditors in situations of the type we have described. We have yet to see the impact of those. They have not yet been tested in the courts and may well be tested in the context of a debt to the State, such as that which occurred in the case referred to by the Deputy. Notwithstanding that, we believe that the circumstances of the Clerys case does justify an examination under both company law and employment law to see if there are things we ought to be changing. We have arranged for such a review to be conducted over the coming seven weeks. It will be a useful addition.

Provision is made in the Act to improve the position of creditors in these sorts of insolvencies. That provision is yet to be tested. It is our view that, notwithstanding that part of the legislation, we need to look afresh at this issue.