Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on this Bill, which is highly anticipated and will be significant for the business and legal sectors for generations to come.

As Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, I welcome Second Stage of this Bill and look forward to facilitating as much debate on it as necessary on Committee Stage. I am conscious that Deputy Kyne, Deputy ÁineCollins and other members of the committee welcomed the Bill and looked forward to its consideration on Committee Stage but I will have to remind the members of the committee to book most of the autumn for its consideration, because it could take us three or four months to deal with the 1,429 sections of the Bill. At a meeting of our committee this morning, one of our members, Deputy Lawlor, claimed he had read 1,427 sections and has only two more to read. We will have a busy time ahead and it is important we all put the work into this Bill and get it through the Houses as quickly as possible as it is a long time in the making.

I wish to join the Minister, Deputy Bruton, in acknowledging and thanking the officials in the Department for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the Company Law Review Group and the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel for their complete and meticulous work in bringing this Bill from inception to publication to the Second Stage debate today over the past six or seven years. I also want to acknowledge the many groups and individuals that have written to members of the committee, and to myself as Chairman, offering assistance, help and guidance in bringing the Bill through the Houses. None of us here are experts and we do not know everything there is to know about this legislation. Given the large number of sections in it, it is important that we consult all those who would be affected by it and do a good job in bringing it through the Houses.

Our Taoiseach has said many times that the ambition is for Ireland to become the best small country in the world in which to do business. That means all business, small and large, domestic and exporting. It refers to those in the retail trade and those serving local communities. It means those paying their taxes and charges will be able to work in a legal, regulated and fair marketplace. That is the reason this Bill is extremely important. I believe we will achieve this ambition. The scale of reform and action across the Government to improve our competitiveness is unyielding until we reach our goals.

It is important to understand that becoming the best location for business and enterprise is not an end in itself. It is not for business's sake alone that we do it, but for the sake of the people. Only a successful and thriving enterprise environment can provide the types of opportunity that our people demand and need. The jobs from a growing economy can support their dreams, fuel their ambitions and provide for their families. It is a big challenge. There is a great deal of work to be done. The Companies Bill 2012 will be a main component of this work in providing the opportunities needed to make it easier to start up and run a business in this country and create employment.

Ireland, like many other countries in Europe, has experienced an unemployment shock in the past few years from which it has yet to recover. Our citizens rightfully expect us to show leadership to get the economy moving again, to help businesses develop and to get people back to work.

To succeed, we must now show leadership to transform the way we do business, to build a sustainable future for business and our citizens. For business, this means being ready and willing to adapt to the emerging and improving business environment, to adapt to new law such as this Bill, to work with Government and its agencies as we seek to improve national competitiveness, and we in turn will provide the stability and security needed by business to prosper.

The Government is rebuilding the economy by moving it from a failed model based on property speculation, banking and debt to a sustainable economy based on enterprise, innovation and exports. I am glad to say that significant progress has been made in dealing with the many legacy problems. We still have a long way to go. Over the past two years we have worked hard to bring a new level of stability to our economy and politics which is now allowing us to focus on the main challenge of getting Ireland working again.

With renewed confidence and belief in ourselves, the most troubled economic period of the recent decade is now behind us. I have no doubt that we will collectively overcome the current economic challenges before us. As our competitiveness improves, we have seen our economy return to growth for the past two years. Further growth is forecast for this year. Costs are back to 2003 and 2004 levels and our exports are breaking new records. The growth is small. It is going in the right direction but we still have a lot of work to do.

The Government's top priority is to get Ireland working again. We have started to see some positive improvements in the unemployment situation in Ireland. We have seen a turnaround in private sector employment, moving from a net loss of 250,000 jobs in the three years leading up to this Government's election into office in 2011 and have recorded a net increase of over 12,000 in the past 15 months. We are still losing jobs but we are winning more per week than we are losing and that is a positive development. If we keep that up and increase the number we win and reduce the number we lose we will be in a better place in a couple of years time.

A good example of this can be seen in my own county of Meath where there are now some 4,771 jobs in Enterprise Ireland supported businesses. This is even more encouraging as there are now more jobs in El supported businesses in Meath than in 2008. While we are not always happy with the IDA and demand more for our constituencies I am quite impressed with Enterprise Ireland's results in the past couple of years. The IDA is doing amazing work for the country. The past two years have been two of their best ever. Deputies naturally fight for more for their own counties so we will keep the pressure on the IDA.

I welcome the fact that the Bill consolidates and simplifies over 50 years of company law. Since 1963 there have been 15 amending Acts. There have also been many statutory instruments and hundreds of EU directives coming through every year. When I worked on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on EU Scrutiny, on average 500 new directives came before us every year. Under the new regulations many of the directives go directly to the relevant committees but we deal with ten or 20 at every meeting. A lot of legislation comes at companies, and to deal with it they have to do a lot of work. It is important to have new consolidating Bills such as this which make company law more accessible to more people. This is a good development as clear law leads to more compliance and comprehension on the part of those setting up and already in business. It also helps legitimate businesses to flourish while making it less of an incentive to operate illegally. This has come to the attention of Oireachtas Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation as we investigate the black market and its effects on legitimate retail trade. At our regional meetings we hear directly from the retail trade and interested groups on how we can further tackle the black market sale of goods and services. We look forward to reporting on this to the Minister for Finance and the other Ministers in the coming months, hopefully in time to effect change in the budget.

I commend the structure of the Companies Bill. It is great to see that for the first time in company law the private company limited by shares is placed at the heart of the Bill. This will be of great relief to the SME sector. The unfair demands that were being placed on small business will be lessened and the environment for small companies and those run by families or with one director will be clearer and more straightforward making it easier for them to survive, thrive and create jobs.

See this speech in context