Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not believe it will take that long.

I outlined several prosecutions and issues which the ODCE addressed in 2017. It has improved considerably since 2012 and is doing a good job. In 2017, a person was arrested and charged with fraudulent trading based on an invoice discounting fraud and entered a plea of guilty. In 2016, an individual was convicted for failing to maintain a licensed bank's register of loans to directors on foot of a plea of guilty and another individual was convicted for fraudulent trading on foot of a plea of guilty.

In terms of prosecutions, the Director of Corporate Enforcement is only statutorily empowered to initiate summary prosecutions. More serious alleged breaches of company law are prosecuted on indictment in the Circuit Court and only the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, can direct that charges be preferred on indictment.

The ODCE is doing good work. I want to put it into an independent agency which will mean it can go to the marketplace to attract the sets of technical skills it needs, such as forensic accountants.

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