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

The account, not the synopsis, of the investigative shortcomings identified by Judge Aylmer was published today on the website of my Department. The purpose of publishing the account is to understand the factors that led to such investigative shortcomings and to take appropriate steps to address them. These steps include ongoing reform within the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, including ongoing recruitment of specialist expertise and the establishment, as announced by Government in November 2017, of the ODCE as an agency to provide it with greater autonomy in relation to staffing resources and ensure it is better equipped to investigate increasingly complex breaches of company law. The general scheme of a Bill to give effect to this decision was considered by Government today.

On 2 November 2017, the Government published the report, Measures to Enhance Ireland's Corporate, Economic and Regulatory Framework: Ireland combatting "white collar crime". A comprehensive set of 28 measures was developed to augment the existing regulatory and legislative framework in the area of corporate, economic and regulatory crime. The implementation of these measures is progressing across three Departments, namely, the Departments of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Justice and Equality, and Finance. There has been considerable progress on the delivery of these actions, with most of them either completed, on schedule or on track to be completed.

Of the actions assigned to my Department, the Companies (Statutory Audits) Bill was signed into law on 25 July 2018. In addition, the Company Law Review Group has submitted its report on corporate governance and I consider that some of the recommendations in this report should be implemented in legislation. These recommendations will be given effect through the general scheme of the ODCE Bill. The transposition deadline for the shareholder rights directive of 10 June 2019 is expected to be met. Submissions were received from a public consultation, which concluded on 9 February 2018. Draft regulations were sent to the Office of Parliamentary Counsel on 28 November 2018 for finalisation and settlement. The general scheme of a Bill to establish the ODCE as an agency was considered by Government today and will be published shortly.

The establishment of the ODCE as an agency is intended to enhance the independence of the office by providing it with more autonomy in relation to staffing resources, particularly the ability to recruit the required specialist skills and expertise; build on its existing expertise and experience; strengthen its capability to investigate increasingly complex breaches of company law; and build on the organisational and procedural reforms that have been implemented.

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