Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 15 June 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

General Scheme of the Companies (Small Company Administrative Rescue Process) Bill 2021: Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Photo of Matt ShanahanMatt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State and his team. I think everybody agrees this is very important legislation. We need to get it over the line as quickly as possible. Will the Minister of State highlight where Revenue debt and, in particular, leases will be considered in terms of prioritising outstanding debt in this process? We will have companies that have already warehoused Revenue debt. In this proposed process, how will this be dealt with? Is Revenue a preferential creditor which would see no write-down while the burden would be placed on private companies?

Maybe the burden will have to be placed on private companies. Could the Minister of State give us an idea about that? The same applies to leases. What is the Minister of State's attitude to leases? Where there is an onerous lease, we are asking the business to get involved in an examinership process, yet the landlord might be saying he cannot take any hit on the lease. There may also be upward-only rent clauses on foot of which payments must be made.