Results 5,321-5,340 of 16,057 for speaker:Mary Coughlan
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: It will be a major Bill and applying a fine at that level now would have an enormous effect on the consolidation legislation. I appreciate the desire for a clear signal but the ODCE can go to court so it would be overdoing it to increase the fine to â¬10,000 at this time. Having said that, we are giving the ODCE access to the books for the first time. I appreciate the Senator's aims but...
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: The court can compel. If I was to accept the amendment, this section would contain provision for a fine of up to â¬10,000 while the next would allow for a fine of â¬1,900. We would have different amounts in different parts of the Companies Act. We would end up picking and choosing which fine would be â¬1,900 and which would be â¬10,000. On that basis I would prefer to wait for the...
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: Are you?
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: I heard Senator O'Toole talk about getting his buckets and spades, but if I recall correctly he got off of a very nice boat on the Shannon and no buckets and spades were needed there.
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: Account needs to be taken of the all-encompassing legislation in this respect. Section 194 of the principal Act provides that it is the duty of a director to disclose his interests in contracts made by the company. If I was to accept this amendment, we would have subsections (5A) and (5B). This provides that if a company fails to comply with a subsection, the company and every officer of...
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: Yes. The Companies Act is in place. This section amends section 194 of the principal Act by inserting a new subsection after subsection (5), namely subsection (5A), which is set out in the section. It provides that "A company shall, if required by the Director, produce to the Director for inspection the book kept by it in accordance with subsection (5)(a) [which refers to the principal...
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: Two fines for the same crime.
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: It is inappropriate to say I or any Member of this House does not want to give a clear message. I want to do it as much as the Members here. That is why I introduced this legislation. We will have the "blacks" with everything written down and I am prepared to accept exactly what everybody is saying. I can give an undertaking to the House that we need to examine the fines and ensure the...
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: It cannot be done now. I could not accept the amendment as it is written because from a parliamentary drafting perspective it would be contradictory to what we are trying to do. I undertake to increase fines in the context of the new legislation.
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: Four hundred sections of company law have offences attached to them, so we would have to go through 400 sections of Companies Acts to do this. I do not have the wherewithal to go through 400 sections of legislation. It would delay my taking this legislation any further, which none of the Senators wants to happen. I will undertake to increase the fines. We will have a further discussion on...
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: The section relates to the role of company directors. Reckless trading has its own parameters and determinations. As I indicated, the reason I have introduced this legislation is to supplement some of the existing legislative powers of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement. I asked the Director of Corporate Enforcement whether the legislation was robust enough and he said it...
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: I am very interested in the explanation because I was trying to understand where the Senator was coming from. Under the companies legislation as it stands, the definitions and their interpretations compose quite a suite. The definition states, "Books and documents and books or documents include accounts, deeds, writings and records made in any other manner". It is covered within the...
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: All the amendments and the entire Bill have been proofed by the Director of Corporate Enforcement and he has indicated to me that the phrase, "books or documents" is more than adequate to deal with his needs. Section 19(1) of the Companies Act 1990 states: The Minister may, subject to subsection (2), give directions to any body requiring the body, ... at such time and place as may be...
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: Yes.
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: Is it my turn now?
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: Perhaps it might be helpful to explain the entire purpose of the proposed subsection 2A. The Director of Corporate Enforcement or an officer authorised by him or her may, when conducting a search under a warrant, find something which he or she believes contains material information. However, it may prove impractical to form a decision on the spot as to whether it can be seized under the...
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: The director will be able to make a determination in normal circumstances.
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: That is correct. Naturally, where there are enormous amounts of information, it might be considered best to take the information away. If a person is in a trading situation the last thing he or she wants to see on the premises is the staff of the ODCE for three or four months, when it might, in fact, be best to have that information off site. In normal circumstances the director will make...
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: That is correct. In an extreme case the matter would be referred back to the courts.
- Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)
Mary Coughlan: I am glad to hear Senator Cannon explain the reasoning behind this amendment. Subsection (vii) of the amendment relates to constitutional rights. The director is obliged at all times to operate within constitutional norms. Proceedings permitted by Acts of the Oireachtas are to be conducted within the principles of constitutional justice and any departure from these principles would be...