Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I very much agree with my colleague's last point. Business organisation is not just important in school, but is also important in the Dáil to ensure we are all knowledgeable on these matters.

I thank the Deputies on all sides who contributed to this Second Stage debate. As was said at the start of the debate, the Bill is very focused and aims to deal with a limited number of discrete issues requiring immediate attention, some of which have been highlighted during the debate. The primary impetus in introducing the Bill is the Government's commitment to expedite the reduction in costs for businesses associated with examinership by allowing small private companies to apply directly to the Circuit Court for the appointment of an examiner rather than first having to apply to the High Court with the associated costs of such an application.

The measures in sections 3, 4, 7 and 8 can reduce administrative burdens by making it easier to file accounts and other documents electronically and by providing for enhancement of audit quality. Sections 5 and 6 will facilitate the more effective exercise of corporate enforcement. Section 9 amends the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 in regard to the determination of applications for a debt relief notice and will facilitate the processing of these applications by the Money Advice & Budgeting Service. The amendments to the Bankruptcy Act 1988 will have the effect of reducing the costs associated with bankruptcy.

Subject to the approval of the House of the Bill before us, in the interests of consolidation of company law, it is intended that the measures in sections 2 to 8, inclusive, will be merged into the Companies Bill 2012, which passed Committee Stage in this House on 6 November. I thank Deputies for the huge amount of time they spent in working on that Bill, which greatly helped it.

I understand it is intended that Committee Stage of this Bill will be taken shortly and will be expedited through this House. It has gone through the other House. There is no foot-dragging on the part of the Government. On the contrary, we want this through and on the Statute Book as quickly as possible.

Deputies Calleary and Browne referred to the need to ensure practitioners and judges have the expertise and knowledge to deal with examinership cases before the courts. The provisions in section 2 will give effect to the expanded role of the Circuit Court. Obviously it will take some time for these legislative changes to become bedded in, and for judges and practitioners to be fully cognisant of the changes in the law. The law is constantly evolving, and practitioners and judges must always keep abreast of developments across all spheres of law. For instance, there have been changes to family law and environmental law and changes on foot of EU directives, for which judges and practitioners must have regular regard in respect of understanding changes in this area. It will be no different when it comes to examinership law.

Court resources are a matter for the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, and his Department.

The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation will work with the Department of Justice and Equality to make the necessary administrative support available. I agree very much with Deputy Calleary’s point that it is important that this legislation be publicised and promoted and that the measures contained in the Bill are explained fully to practitioners and judges alike.

Transparency was raised, particularly in regard to professional fees. This can be reflected on and considered in the context of the Legal Services Bill 2011, which colleagues have mentioned. In response to Deputy Wallace’s point, the Company Law Review Group considered extending the Circuit Court examinership to medium-sized companies but did not recommend this in its final report.

The provisions in respect of the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 and the Bankruptcy Act 1988 were incorporated into the Bill on Report Stage in the Seanad yesterday and the Bill was passed by the House last evening. Several Deputies mentioned the simplification of procedures. The Company Law Review Group considered introducing a new structured and non-judicial debt settlement scheme for SMEs which concluded that examinership without court involvement would not be feasible given the strong constitutional rights to private property in Ireland. Our Constitution requires that any compulsory write-down of debts for less than market value requires compensation for the loss and consent of the creditors to a court order, whether by substantive approval or a scheme of arrangement or a right of objection to the courts involved.

Deputy Calleary raised the issue of protection for the term accountant. My understanding is that legislative protection for the term accountant was also raised in the context of the Companies Bill 2012 and is being further examined by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. Deputy English raised the question of the audit obligations for community and voluntary schemes. The Companies Bill 2012 contains a provision to extend the audit exemption to guarantee companies, companies in a group situation or dormant companies that meet the threshold. I think the thresholds in that case are €8.8 million maximum turnover and €4.4 million maximum balance sheets or employment of 50 people. That Bill passed Second Stage in the Dáil on 25 April of this year and Committee Stage took place on 6 November. When that Bill is fully operational, it will deal with Deputy English’s point.

The points my colleagues have raised will be carefully examined as we prepare for Committee Stage but it is the clear intent of the Government to expedite this legislation so the examinership regime and the changes we are making therein will greatly help businesses in this country.

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