Anything that can assist in saving jobs in SMEs and can assist viable SMEs get through a difficult trading process is to be welcomed.

Companies, along with many other institutions, have taken a battering in recent times. There is no sense in us putting much work, in the coming weeks and months, into the Bill unless the enforcement side of the Department is beefed up. The enforcement side and the resources available to the Companies Registration Office are insufficient given the number of cases being fought in respect of breaches of company law in recent years. I appreciate it is a time of constrained resources but if we are to rebuild confidence in the business community and implement the spirit of the Bill in making it easier to set up a business, we must examine the resources available to company law enforcement within the Minister's Department. The difficulty in introducing the legislation is that people will use the big change to justify reckless behaviour. The message must go clearly from the House that it will not be tolerated. The same message must go from the Minister's enforcement agencies in their public utterances in the coming weeks and months.

Various groups have welcomed the Bill, including some that do not often welcome the measures of this Government. The ISME chief executive, Mr. Mark Fielding, welcomes the requirement for one director to start a business. It will assist many people. The Minister referred to sole traders and we all know people who drag others into the company process, which leads to difficulties, for the sake of making up the one extra person. Mr. Fielding also points to the anomalies and expense added by the confusion that company law represents for small businesses. He is hopeful the cost and burden of running a small business will be substantially reduced if the proposals are implemented. The Small Firms Association has acknowledged significant benefits by reducing red tape and making company law obligations easier to understand. The obligations continue to exist and the bar is high but they are more accessible and understandable.

Legislation often appears in the House with the best of intentions and we see it through Committee Stage and the Seanad and then various agencies add to it when it comes to be implemented. They goldplate the legislation. We are particularly good at goldplating EU regulations. I hope we do not goldplate the Bill to the extent that its provisions, its cost saving measures and accessibility revert to the current position. Goldplating the Bill in its implementation should not create barriers for those accessing the benefits of the Bill. It is vital the Minister ensures that does not happen.

I welcome the Bill and I compliment all involved in it. I am sure many involved in the Bill have retired from the Department and we think of them and wish them well. I assure the officials and the Minister that we will look after the child as it goes through the school process. We will table a series of amendments to improve the Bill on Committee Stage but, generally, we are supportive of the Bill. The sooner we can get it implemented and the sooner companies, business people and those who want to start businesses at this time can gain the benefit of the Bill, the better.

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