Results 721-740 of 12,909 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: This goes back to the previous amendment in that after conducting a review of the Bill, and if the ongoing operation of the Bill provides small challenges that need to be remedied or changed, regulations are far more effective in getting those changes quickly. The legislative process, while important for a Bill such as this, can take time. As the Deputy said, regulations are laid before the...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: I move amendment No. 13: In page 10, line 4, to delete “C” and substitute “A”. Class A fines are higher than class C fines and, given the potentially serious consequences attached to any criminal offence relating to national security, we deem this to be a more appropriate penalty.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: I understand absolutely where the Deputy is coming from. However, the practicality is that there can be unintended consequences from an amendment such as this. Parties could use the good intentions of this amendment to obstruct or delay the screening process. They could deliberately fail to acknowledge receipt of properly served documents, or use that delay in winding down the clock. This...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: The provisions in the section and across the legislation are there in terms of signing for documents. We have found across other legislation that somebody can refuse to sign. Somebody can give instructions to colleagues at work to refuse to sign, when they probably know there might a document coming their way. People can be conveniently be absent. It is always a challenge and section 8 is...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: I see where the Deputy is coming from. If it is an internationally based company and does not have a registered office, it will more than likely have agents who are dealing with it in the jurisdiction. Such companies will have professional advice. I will come back to the Deputy on that, possibly during the course of the meeting or, if not, immediately afterwards.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: If we were to serve a notice on somebody, even though there is a process set out, a person who does not want to receive a notice can make it very difficult for a notice to be served. Let us be practical on that. They can be not present at their offices. They can move their offices. They can instruct their colleagues or staff not to receive official or registered documentation purely to...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: I move amendment No. 15: In page 11, line 4, to delete “Subject to subsection (2), a” and substitute “A”. These amendments are the most important changes to the text and I am glad they are being considered together. They are primarily technical and are designed to ensure that investors are clear about their obligations. They reflect the extensive consultation...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: I thank Deputy Duffy for his amendment and for his suggestion and we will support the amendment in principle. However, we need to do some work with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel around its language. For consistency throughout the Bill, "constituted" is used rather than "incorporated" so that would change the amendment to read "including through limited partnerships and other forms...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: What we are doing with these amendments is to streamline those that are coming in. Where there is a change of control of a company, that will be notifiable. We do not want, for the sake of administration within the Department or within business, to have needless notifications coming in. That is what we are doing by tidying up the language. There is a wide range of issues.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: Geopolitical threats to security are changing every day.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: It will be a small number. Post the passing of the legislation, our intention is to develop a guidance note for what exactly will come under it. That guidance note will be in line with EU guidance around what constitutes a threat to State security so it will be consistent with other EU member states and investors will have consistency across the EU.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: We are one of the last countries in the EU to do this. There is practice across the EU around this. The operational guidance of the legislation will reflect EU practice in other member states.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: We are not aware of any. The team has done a huge amount of work in this space over the past number of years. They have done a great deal of consultation, and they have been out and about. They are not aware of any so far. As I said, the geopolitical space is changing rapidly and this will allow us to most effectively defend it. It is also in line with our EU obligations in terms of...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: We will be supporting amendment No. 19.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: I thank the Deputy. At present, the sectors, technologies and activities covered by the proposed legislation are very precisely aligned with the EU regulation in order to have consistency across the EU. Land and real estate relating to critical infrastructure are already included in the Bill. Any addition to the list of notifiable transactions will increase the complexity of the screening...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: I absolutely take the Deputy's point and agree with her. However, I want to keep this as tight as possible. There are areas within the legislation around housing which would be notifiable. If there were sites close to sensitive security sites or sensitive State infrastructure, they would have to be notified. That is the type of provision it is. It is very related to sensitive...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: To be more precise, they are not within the scope of this Bill.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: I move amendment No. 16: In page 11, lines 6 and 7, to delete all words from and including “is” in line 6 down to and including line 7 and substitute “as a result of the transaction—”.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: I move amendment No. 18: In page 11, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following: “(i) acquires control of an asset in the State, or (ii) changes the percentage of shares or voting rights it holds in an undertaking in the State— (I) from 25 per cent or less to more than 25 per cent, or (II) from 50 per cent or less to more than 50 per cent;”.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (25 Jan 2023)

Dara Calleary: I move amendment No. 20: In page 11, line 11, to delete “directly or indirectly”.