Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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3. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the status of the establishment of the corporate enforcement agency; the number of staff hired to date; and the scheduled commencement date of the authority. [7198/22]

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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My question is on the corporate enforcement agency, the authority that will be set up. I believe it will be a crucial tool in the fight against white-collar crime. I ask for an update on the number of staff who have been hired to date and on the scheduled commencement of the authority. Can we have an update on that? As chair of the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, I appreciate I got a letter from the Tánaiste telling me the Garda has committed a staffing allocation for the new authority, increasing from seven to 16. The Minister might give us a timeframe for when the Department's recruitment drive will be completed and when the authority will be operating.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, last year I brought the Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Bill through the Houses of the Oireachtas, and for which we received cross-party support for which I am thankful. On 22 December 2021, it was signed by the President into law. This landmark legislation will transform the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, ODCE, into a statutory and independent agency to be known as the corporate enforcement authority, CEA, which will have additional resources to investigate and prosecute white-collar crime. The legislation will provide the authority with greater autonomy and flexibility to adapt to the challenges of encouraging greater compliance with and enforcement of company law. As I said then, it is our firm intention to commence all aspects of the Act as soon as possible, once the organisational matters integral to the establishment of the authority have been finalised.

Last Thursday, the Minister of State, Deputy English, signalled in the Dáil our intention to make a simple but necessary amendment to address a cross-referencing error to a Schedule in the Act. The Tánaiste wrote to Deputy Quinlivan to inform him of that. The Government has approved the drafting of an amendment on Committee Stage of the Redundancy Payments (Amendment) Bill 2022, which is currently before the Dáil, and which it is hoped will be enacted without undue delay. In parallel, commencement orders are being drafted to commence the relevant provisions of the Act after its amendment.

I am mindful of the focus given to the resourcing of the CEA by Members as the Bill proceeded through the Oireachtas. On resourcing, my Department approved sanction for an increase of 35% on existing Civil Service numbers. Recruitment for these additional 14 staff is under way. A clerical officer and digital forensics manager have already been assigned. The post of director of governance and support operations will be filled shortly. The recruitment process is also under way for the posts of director of finance and ICT and a senior enforcement lawyer. I am satisfied that the CEA is being provided with the civilian staff it needs.

On Garda resourcing, the Garda Commissioner has committed that the number of members of An Garda Síochána assigned to the CEA will increase from seven to 16.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State. We all are supportive of this legislation. Granting the new authority autonomy over the appointment of its resources is necessary, as we all argued for during the course of the passage of the Bill. The power to recruit its own staff according to the skills the authority envisages to be necessary is a key component of the independence of the CEA. The long-awaited new authority must demonstrate from the get-go that it has the strongest powers and can ensure those involved in white-collar crime get the harshest of penalties where possible. With a more co-ordinated approach from all the State agencies involved in combating white-collar crime, it can assure this type of crime is not ignored, as, unfortunately, was the case on many occasions in the past.

I understand, as the Minister of State said, that there is a slight technical problem with the Act. Assuming this is corrected quickly, which we hope it will be, and the Minister of State will have my party's full support on that, has he a date in mind as to when he envisages the agency will be established as an independent and functioning body? Basically, when will it be set up?

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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We all abhor white-collar crime and that is why we prioritised this legislation in the previous session. As I said, I am thankful for the support we received from the committee, of which the Deputy is Chairman, and indeed all Members of this House, to progress the necessary legislation.

Deputy Quinlivan is correct; one of the key aspects is to ensure that the authority is adequately resourced and that it has autonomy to recruit the expertise that is needed. We have committed to that. The budget has increased by approximately 50% since 2018 and the civilian staffing level has increased by 35%. The level of Garda staff will increase by 50% by the time all staff are transferred across. There are still some ongoing discussions between the ODCE and An Garda Síochána. We expect those discussions to be successfully concluded shortly and we are hopeful that with the amendment Bill the Minister of State, Deputy English, is bringing before the Oireachtas it will be up and functioning in the coming months.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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As I previously mentioned, I am keen to see the authority established in the quickest possible timeframe. We in Sinn Féin believe the new authority with autonomy of action would best serve to tackle the concerns regarding corporate crime. The perception that corruption and so-called white-collar crime are not adequately detected and punished damage the economy and threaten our international reputation as a reliable place to do business. Therefore, it is welcome that we are dealing with it and setting up the new authority.

White-collar crime also breeds cynicism in society on the basis that it appears that certain crimes are treated more leniently than others. A significantly important part of the establishment of the CEA relates to the work of the Companies Registration Office, CRO. I have raised this previously. On the back of reports by the Irish Independent journalist, John Mulligan, about the CRO and the suggestion that hundreds of fake companies have been established, I received communication from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in July last year in which it outlined the importance of the CEA Bill and the provision requiring company directors to provide personal public service numbers to the CRO. This is an important provision and is a further reason why we need this agency set up as soon as possible. I am sure the Minister of State would agree. I am happy to support him in progressing it.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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We are very much in unison on this. Everybody in the Oireachtas wants to ensure that the authority is up and running as quickly as possible but we want to ensure that it is up and running correctly from the very first day. That is why we need to ensure that the drafting error that was discovered in the amendment Bill is addressed. We have a mechanism to do so in regard to the Bill the Minister of State, Deputy English, is bringing forward. We must also ensure that the arrangement between An Garda Síochána and the ODCE is finalised and put on a permanent basis going forward. Negotiations in regard to that are almost complete. When they are completed, a memorandum of understanding will be signed by both the CEA and An Garda Síochána and at that stage it will be the right time to commence this new authority, which is something we all want to see. I assure Deputy Quinlivan that there is no resistance on this side of the House. We will have the authority set up and operational in the coming months.