Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief because I outlined on earlier Stages that Sinn Féin supports the introduction into Irish law of this Bill. This is a short, technical Bill that will have a positive impact on certain companies doing business in Ireland. It will extend the current expiry date of December 2020 to enable qualifying companies, incorporated in Ireland, to prepare and file financial statements using the US generally accepted accounting principles, GAAP, rather than international financial reporting standards, IFRS. The extension provided for in this legislation is for ten years to December 2030. This continued exemption provides for an ease of doing business in Ireland and spares some companies the associated costs of switching systems.

The Bill also contains a new requirement, namely, that only companies registered in Ireland before its commencement will benefit from its provisions, and I appreciate the inclusion of that requirement in the legislation. It has been included to prevent future inversions, which have had a damaging effect on Ireland’s international reputation. With this extra criteria, extending the deadline until 2030 cannot be seen as Ireland encouraging further inversions. Any measure that benefits Ireland’s international reputation is always welcome.

I met representatives of the Coalition for Irish International Companies a few weeks ago and they are anxious to get this Bill passed to avoid unnecessary financial expenditure if it is delayed. Should the current deadline of 2020 stand, they will need to start their preparations for the alternative straight away.

This Bill was before the Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation last week and we moved it through quickly in order to give companies concerned about this issue the reassurance of our commitment to it. I hope the same can be done here tonight.

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