Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for bringing forward the Bill so promptly. I know this idea has had a long history and was strongly resisted within the Department over many years. It is a credit to the Minister of State and the Government at large that this was pushed through because we have long seen in Ireland a very expensive and inaccessible system of examinership that has not facilitated viable companies to come through difficult periods. It is absolutely appropriate at this time that we would seek to bring forward this legislation.

It is an emergency measure and while I can appreciate Deputies wanting to scrutinise legislation in the normal course of events, a lot of thinking has gone into this by advocates over the years. The system has been perfected by some of those people working diligently in the background, including the Company Law Review Group, so a lot of effort has gone into trying to find a way to do this despite the resistance that had been there in the past. When it came before our committee, I know many of us would like to have had pre-legislative scrutiny but there was an understanding across all parties, including the Opposition parties, to their absolute credit, that this was something we needed to move upon.

Maybe we will have to tweak it and track its operation as it goes along. As recently as today, as Deputy O'Reilly will be aware, we received a delegation from Retail Excellence Ireland who were concerned about rents and were suggesting the need for a mediation system that could resolve some of the rent difficulties. When pressed, it was hard to see how a compulsory mediation system that obliged or compelled changes in private contracts could be done without the sort of mechanism the Minister of State is bringing forward here. Perhaps the Minister of State should examine the proposals that were presented by Retail Excellence Ireland. It may be they are not feasible in a legislative process but perhaps the code of practice the Minister of State and his Department put in place for overseeing rental contracts for businesses in difficulty can be re-examined to see if it could be made more effective as a backup.

Of course, the fact is that this small companies rescue programme is in place and it represents significant progress. I hope it will ensure many companies that would otherwise be forced to the wall are able to carve out a successful future for themselves. I strongly support the passage of this Bill.

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