Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Elements of existing legislation are currently under scrutiny. As the Deputy will be aware in the context of the review, I commissioned the report which I presented to Cabinet in July. Reference was also made to section 599 in company law and we think this is still relevant and may yet be used to test the law in this case. Last week the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, and I announced a twin-track examination of protections in law for employees and unsecured creditors, particularly to ensure limited liability or restructuring are not used to avoid a company's obligations to its employees and unsecured creditors. We have appointed two experts to examine the legal protections for workers, particularly where operations and assets may be moved to separate legal entities as part of a restructuring. This examination will specifically look at situations where valuable assets in a company are separated from the operating entity, and how the position of employees can be better protected in such situations. The experts have been asked to report by 11 March 2016.

As part of the twin-track process, the Minister, Deputy Bruton, also requested the Company Law Review Group to examine legislation with a view to recommending ways company law could be amended to better safeguard employees and creditors. In addition, on the establishment of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, ODCE, in 2001, the existing functions of the Minister relating to the enforcement of the Companies Acts transferred to the director of corporate enforcement. These functions included the investigation of suspected offences under the Companies Acts and prosecuting detected breaches of the Acts. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation has no investigative function under the Companies Act, 2014. The liquidators of OCS Operations Limited, which was the firm operating Clerys, have confirmed that they have submitted a report in the past couple of weeks to the ODCE in accordance with their statutory duties. The director of corporate enforcement is independent in the exercise of his statutory functions.

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