Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for tabling this Bill and, like Deputy O’Reilly, I thank the officials, the people who have been working in the background and who often do not get the recognition they are due.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill, which is a technical one, as has been said. I welcome, in particular, a number of necessary alterations the Bill makes to corporate enforcement in this State. The enterprise, trade and employment committee, which I chair, worked well with the then Minister for enterprise as he worked towards the establishment of the Corporate Enforcement Authority, as a stand-alone agency at the time. I am proud of the role of our committee in helping to make this agency a reality in July 2022. For too long, white-collar crime was not pursued as vigorously as it ought to have been. The establishment of the Corporate Enforcement Authority sends a clear message that such crimes will be pursued and punished. These types of crimes in the main have two serious impacts, namely, the damaging of our international reputation and the impact on the costs consumers pay for goods and services. Crucial to whether the Corporate Enforcement Authority was to be a success was the increased number of specialists that were seconded to the agency.

The Bill we are debating today further enhances the powers of the Corporate Enforcement Authority and that is something I welcome. I most welcome the parts of the Bill that strengthen this authority. In particular, I welcome the insertion of a time extension allowed to the Corporate Enforcement Authority to appeal to the courts in cases where it has seized privileged material. The time period within which the Corporate Enforcement Authority must apply to the court for determination of whether the material it been seized is privileged legal material has been extended from seven to 14 days. The extension of this timeframe gives a great opportunity for the Corporate Enforcement Authority to assess material and make decisions on it. The establishment of a new category 2 offence regarding the obstruction and intimidation of Corporate Enforcement Authority staff is necessary and, furthermore, sends a clear message regarding the power and prestige of this agency. It is a welcome warning to those who may wish to undermine its work that such activity will not be tolerated and will be responded to fully.

Much of the Bill, as I said, is technical and relates to tidying up other legislation. While it may be tedious and technical, it remains important that such work is carried out diligently. It enhances the access the Corporate Enforcement Authority has to court documents and ensures the agency is notified under the amendment to section 132 of the principal Act regarding certain court applications within 14 days’ notice, allowing it to object. Section 65, which is particular to the Corporate Enforcement Authority , expands the gateways through which the Corporate Enforcement Authority may share information with other necessary authorities without the consent of the impacted company.

The amendment to section 944Q extends the number of relevant bodies that will have to now share information with the Corporate Enforcement Authority . Company auditors can have a key role to play in corporate enforcement. They see many documents in the course of an audit. Section 23 notes that where statutory auditors obtain information that suggests to them that there is a reason to believe a category 1 or category 2 offence may have been committed, they are obliged to notify the Corporate Enforcement Authority of their suspicion and how they formed their opinion.

Moving away from the Corporate Enforcement Authority , section 11 provides for the location and means of holding general meetings of companies, allowing such meetings to held outside the State, while also allowing for such meetings to be held in multiple venues through the use of communication technologies.

This is extremely welcome and solidifies the measure that was introduced during the Covid pandemic in the Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Covid-19) Act 2020. It brings the legislation in line with current working realities in many industries where people dial into work both off site and on site.

Like my colleague, Deputy O'Reilly, I support the Bill. It is a necessary one that provides further strength to the Corporate Enforcement Authority. As a State, we have a poor record of dealing with so-called white-collar crime. With the establishment of the Corporate Enforcement Authority in July 2022 and the additional strength provided in this Bill, there is no longer a feeling of there being one rule for them and other rules for the rest of us. The Corporate Enforcement Authority has the power to vigorously pursue white-collar crime. I wish it all the best in its work going forward.

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