Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy might have heard it before, but not from this Department, which has proven its worth in this respect. Let us recognise that piece of work because I know the amount of work that went into introducing the changes and consolidation in the other Act.

We all agree on the benefits of co-operatives. As we have outlined, in the credit union movement, in agriculture and even in housing, co-operatives have been doing great work. I look forward to seeing credit unions funding housing proposals which have been provided for in changes to legislation. The sooner that comes together, the better. We recognise that.

It is clear that we all recognise the continuing importance of the co-operative movement throughout Ireland. Furthermore, we all share a strong desire to modernise legislation that underpins the continued sustainability and success of the co-operative model.

We diverge only on how to achieve these aims. That is part of the work we have to do and we will tease through that in the months ahead. The Minister is very clear that she would like to work with the Deputies on this in the months ahead and has asked for their co-operation in that regard.

The proposed Bill may be well intended but it cannot be supported by the Minister in its current form for the reasons I outlined in my opening remarks. The Minister would like to avoid the introduction of more piecemeal and fragmented legislation in this important area. She is also concerned about the introduction of measures that will reduce transparency and which could result in unintended consequences that may have a negative impact on the co-operative movement, a movement that we all want to support. We already have a strong co-operative movement in this country, although one would think, having listened to some of the speeches tonight, that we do not.

The Minister considers that a more appropriate course of action is to consolidate into one statute all existing industrial and provident societies legislation and to modernise it to eliminate outdated provisions and align it with the realities of a 21st century business and regulatory environment. This will ensure a level playing field between co-operatives and the other legal options for structuring enterprise activities and will provide a conducive framework for the full potential of the co-operative model to be realised. Deputy Kelleher made reference to the importance of a level playing field earlier.

Deputies asked why it is taking so long to complete the review in order to modernise this whole area. The Government recognises the continued importance of the co-operative movement throughout Ireland, particularly to local rural communities, with over 200,000 such companies registered in Ireland. The focus of the Department in recent years has been on consolidating, reforming and modernising our companies legislation and getting that piece right. This has been a major contributory factor to continued investment and new start-ups during the years when we needed new jobs in large numbers. This Department has form in producing legislation and action plans to facilitate the provision of additional jobs. That was the Department's focus and this significant undertaking, involving the largest volume of substantive legislation in the State's history, has been completed successfully and the new legislation now forms the basis for Ireland's business regulatory environment. The Companies Act 2014 was followed by the transposition of a number of EU directives including EU 2006/43/EC, as amended by EU 2014/56EU, the coming into force of EU Regulation No. 537/2014 as well as the Companies (Accounting) Act 2017 and the Companies (Statutory Audits) Act 2018. There was a lot happening in this space and a lot of change. The Friendly Societies and Industrial and Provident Societies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act which came into effect in 2014 was aimed primarily at easing the regulatory burden on co-operative societies. It addressed particular problems that were identified in the co-operative sector and has helped to ensure that this model thrives and grows.

The Minister wants to ensure that the review currently under way takes on board all of the views of interested parties. The public consultation process is complete and it is important that the review takes into account all of the views expressed, some of which differ to those expressed by Deputies in the House today. Deputies Pringle and Kelleher referenced the Irish Co-Operative Organisation Society, ICOS. Interestingly, ICOS made a submission to the Department only yesterday with some observations on this Bill. It was very clear that it favours retaining the seven member minimum because it believes that a lower number might bring visibility and sustainability into question. Deputies have portrayed as gospel the need to lower it but that is not gospel according to members of the sector. It is important that we have proper consultation and tease out all of the issues involved. ICOS also emphasised the importance of annual returns for transparency purposes. It said that it would prefer the audit exemption to be in primary legislation rather than by ministerial order. I make these points to demonstrate that there are other views out there on these issues. The Deputies seemed to suggest that everything they have put forward is right but it is the job of the Department to tease it through, to get everyone's views and to bring forward legislation of which we can all be proud.

See this speech in context