James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this Bill, which makes changes to existing company law to enable firms to adapt to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. It recognises that we are in a new normal and people should not be penalised for not meeting requirements that are simply unworkable under the current circumstances.

The Bill addresses the operational issues in respect of compliance and gives breathing space to businesses with respect to examinership. It makes sense to allow the company seal and the necessary signatures to be on separate documents and be able to hold AGMs digitally as more people move to remote working.

While not the intended purpose of the Bill, this is a great win for balanced regional development. It removes the competitive advantage of city-based company employees who live near one another, which up until this point was a necessity under the current legislation.

I know many towns and villages across Cork East that will benefit from this. It immediately makes them a more attractive location to work. People want to work in places like Youghal, and I recently spoke to young working professionals who had moved back and who wish to be able to work from and build a life in their own town. While this will not solve all the issues, it is a welcome step in the right direction.

The Bill increases the current debt threshold for a winding up petition from an individual debt of €10,000 up to €50,000 for aggregate debts owed by a single creditor. This prevents companies being compulsorily wound up for relatively small debts. It enables the courts to extend the maximum period of examinership, in exceptional circumstances, from 100 days to 150 days. This is a substantial change that will enable much needed time for an examiner of a company to negotiate with key stakeholders and possible investors to put together workable rescue plans.

Alongside this, under the legislation, directors of insolvent companies must have regard to the interests of creditors of a company and the preservation of the company’s assets. This is a significant provision, which acknowledges that it may well be of benefit to the creditors to not hastily wind up a company and to take steps to maintain value by protecting key assets such as leases.

These two measures go to root of what we could learn about the crisis. It is not always about companies working against one another to achieve high levels of profit in short-term-driven shareholders' capitalism. It can be about all stakeholders in communities working together to try to achieve a better outcome for all.

As a public representative, an experience I have found to be deeply rewarding is engaging with stakeholders in our community that are supporting stakeholders on the ground. I recently spoke with the chairperson of Cork Chamber of Commerce, which supports and represents 1,200 businesses employing over 100,000 people in the region. He told me all about the great work businesses are doing right around the country. I want congratulate Cork Chamber of Commerce on the good work it does and I will continue to work alongside it to make sure Cork is a great place for businesses.

I will continue to support this Bill that makes the great work that is being done easier to do.

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