Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)

I thank the Minister. I am asking about the operational breakdown at the Companies Registration Office and specifically how the failure in the CRO's IT system has undermined the functioning of the company strike-off. We know, and it was confirmed by reporting earlier this year, that the CRO has been forced, due to persistent failures in its IT systems, to resort to manually striking companies off. The Minister has confirmed that, while there is some non-manual processing taking place, manual processing is still taking place, which is not satisfactory. That regression to manual processing is not only inefficient; it is an admission that the system that was put in place at public expense is not delivering on its core function. This has reportedly created a backlog in enforcement actions but it is also eroding legal certainty for businesses trying to comply with their filing obligations.

The CRO currently has a statutory obligation to monitor compliance and initiate strike-offs where companies fail to meet their obligations but that power has to be exercised transparently, fairly and predictably.

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