Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Labour Party will support this Bill which brings some benefits, particularly to small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, many of which have been aired in the debate, especially the reporting mechanisms for small companies. This is long overdue and will be welcomed by many people working in those industries. Simplifying the reporting mechanisms will help SMEs throughout the country.

It is a serious problem for me that we are dealing with this legislation in the middle of November. It is incredible. It is further evidence of a do-nothing Government in a do-nothing Dáil. This directive was adopted at EU level in June 2013. It is a good directive which, bar a few minor tweaks, should go through the House easily and will be welcomed. Ireland was required to transpose it into national law by 20 July 2015 but of course that deadline was missed. We were one of only two countries, along with Cyprus, not to implement the directive by its due date. In September 2015 the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation was sent a letter of formal notice by the Commission, yet according to all the documentation made available, which I have seen, nothing was done. In May when Deputy Mitchell O'Connor was appointed Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the Department gave us all access to a detailed briefing document. On page 15 of that brief, in big bold print was the heading "immediate priorities" and the first item on the list was the Companies (Accounting) Bill 2016, yet six months later the Bill is only starting its passage through the Dáil. In his reply, the Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation might explain why it has taken so long to bring forward legislation which the Members of this House will support, apart from minor tweaks probably relating to reporting procedures. Some of my issues about bringing forward the timelines and so on were addressed in the Minister's opening statement. Why did it take this long?

If it takes six months to bring forward this legislation, which is marked immediate priority, how long will it take to bring forward other legislation that is going to become a priority in the coming months?

God knows. As already stated, this is a pretty simple piece of legislation that has to be transposed.

To make matters worse, in June the Commission had to issue a reasoned opinion against Ireland on the matter because the Department did not action the transposition of the directive. I recall the issues we have had in this House over a period and under various Governments in the context of transposing European directives. I have seen it from both sides of the fence. When I was an MEP, I saw it when I was fighting to get directives transposed. In my time as a Minister, I also witnessed what is required to transpose a European law and the time and planning involved. It is important that Departments plan in advance. Efforts must always be made to ensure that laws are transposed within the prescribed period. Historically, Ireland had a very poor record in transposing EU law. However, such were the efforts of the previous Government, of which the Minister of State and I were both members, that we reached a point in 2013 at which there was not a single case initiated against Ireland by the Commission at the European Court of Justice for failure to implement EU law. Last year, there was only one case, yet this Department and its Minister, through simple inertia, were trying to put Ireland back before the European Court of Justice.

I am delighted that this Bill is coming through the Houses now. In his reply, I ask the Minister of State to explain why it has taken so long to make something pretty simple happen. It is not a once-off failure by the Department. A document published by his Department in August shows that there are not one or two but eight other EU directives that have not been transposed into Irish law by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. My simple observation is this. I support the Bill, though I have some minor amendments that I will put forward on Committee Stage. In fairness, many of the issues that I had were dealt with in the opening statement earlier, particularly around timelines. However, I have some questions. Why did it take so long for this to be transposed? What is going on in the Department and with the senior Minister in the context of transposing European law into Irish law? Is there a problem or an issue in respect of which this House needs to be notified? I ask the Minister of State to outline the position

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