Noel Treacy (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

We appreciate Deputy Carey's concern in this matter. The recovery of commercial debts is essentially a civil matter between the parties concerned. I do not have detailed information about the particular circumstances of this case, for example, information relating to the terms of the contracts entered into by the parties concerned or the administration procedure in the United Kingdom referred to by Deputy Carey. Furthermore, it is not clear if Irish or British law or both applies.

While on the basis of the information available, it appears that the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has no function in the matter, nevertheless, we have considerably strengthened Irish company law, in recent years. The Company Law Enforcement Act 2001 introduced significant changes to the business regulatory environment.

One of the main initiatives of the Act was to establish the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement with statutory responsibility for encouraging compliance with company law and investigating and enforcing suspected breaches of the legislation. This remit involves communicating publicly the benefits of compliance and the consequences of non-compliance, initiating fact-finding company investigations and prosecuting persons for suspected breaches of the Companies Acts. It also involves evaluating the conduct of persons associated with insolvent companies, applying to the High Court for the restriction or disqualification of company directors and others and undertaking a number of additional initiatives, including remedial measures, as provided for in the Companies Acts.

Business failure is an unfortunate fact of life. However, the changes introduced in Irish company law, through Part 5 of the 2001 Act in particular, are intended to address the problem of dishonest business failure, in particular, what has been referred to as the "phoenix syndrome".

If the Deputy has any information suggesting that a breach of Irish company law has occurred in the above case, I ask him to bring it to the attention of the Director of Corporate Enforcement who is independent in the performance of his statutory duties and has done an excellent job since his appointment to that office.

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