Results 10,681-10,700 of 11,979 for speaker:Billy Kelleher

Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (2 Dec 2009)

Billy Kelleher: First and foremost, I thank the Deputies for their contributions to this debate and the Senators for their contributions in the Seanad. I look forward to the Committee Stage debate next week. There is a few issues to clarify. First, the purpose of this Bill is to address a few simple accounting difficulties that have arisen in the context of companies locating their headquartering...

Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (2 Dec 2009)

Billy Kelleher: I thank Dr. Courtney, in particular, who is chair of the Company Law Review Group, and the other members who sit on that body reviewing company legislation with the purpose of consolidating it into one Bill, which we hope to publish in September next. As outlined by Deputy Morgan, there will be 1,200 sections in that Bill. It will be difficult and exacting, first, on the Company Law Review...

Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (2 Dec 2009)

Billy Kelleher: That is the purpose of the exercise, but only a small limited number of companies - roughly, five or six companies - will avail of this. That is the purpose, rather than putting an onerous cost on them unnecessarily that they can over a period of time move from US GAAP to Irish GAAP or IFRS. There are many acronyms in use in the Department. The other day I was at the world trade talks...

Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (2 Dec 2009)

Billy Kelleher: The two Deputies opposite represent Galway. Clustering is critically important. People should be proud of Galway in the context of the medical devices, for example.

Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (2 Dec 2009)

Billy Kelleher: Yes, exactly.

Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (2 Dec 2009)

Billy Kelleher: I accept that.

Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (2 Dec 2009)

Billy Kelleher: I was just making the point that clustering and getting critical mass is very important. In Galway, for example, it concerns medical devices and some areas of life sciences. They have international standing because of the size and scale they have achieved. So the clustering of companies is very important. Equally, the Government cannot dictate where a company locates. The IDA's first...

Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (2 Dec 2009)

Billy Kelleher: When we have them secured in Ireland the issue of location arises. There is a regional policy in the IDA, which tries to point potential investors to where there may be a deficit of IDA-supported jobs. I thank Deputies for their contributions on Second Stage and I look forward to debating the Bill again on Committee Stage next Wednesday. I also wish to thank my officials who are working...

Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (2 Dec 2009)

Billy Kelleher: Yes.

Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Referral to Select Committee (2 Dec 2009)

Billy Kelleher: I move: That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, in accordance with Standing Order 122(1) and paragraph 1(a)(i) of the Orders of Reference of that committee.

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (2 Dec 2009)

Billy Kelleher: Within my Department, the enterprise development agencies such as Enterprise Ireland and the County and City Enterprise Boards have continued to assist enterprises through their grant and advisory schemes. Enterprise Ireland (EI) is the lead government agency responsible for the development of indigenous enterprise. The deputy is incorrect in his assertion that EI will only deal with...

Seanad: Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (26 Nov 2009)

Billy Kelleher: Amendment No. 5, as published, is to allow the Minister to make recommendations to recognise stock exchanges outside the State so companies can make the equivalent of a market purchase of its own shares on those exchanges. Part 11 of the Companies Act 1990 provides that a market purchase occurs when a company purchases its own shares on a recognised stock exchange. Market purchases must be...

Seanad: Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (26 Nov 2009)

Billy Kelleher: I can agree with everything the Senator said. The difficulty is that these were not ready for drafting at the time the Bill was debated in the Seanad. That highlights the importance of the Seanad and our parliamentary system in that we can introduce amendments from time to time and have a discussion on them. The reason behind this is to ensure the companies that will avail of the transition...

Seanad: Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (26 Nov 2009)

Billy Kelleher: It is merely to correct the reading of the Bill. There are no significant changes other than that we are deleting an "and" after "£250,000" and also the comma in page 5, paragraph (b), line 13. It is a grammatical correcting of the Bill. They are technical amendments.

Seanad: Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (26 Nov 2009)

Billy Kelleher: This amendment is to ensure continuity of membership by directors of committees of inquiry established by the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority, IAASA. Section 27 of the Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Act sets out the manner in which committees of inquiry of IAASA are constituted. The proposed amendment No. 6 is necessary as the term of office of one of the current...

Seanad: Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (26 Nov 2009)

Billy Kelleher: We hope this will give confidence to take on any challenges or investigations required and that it will be seamless in the context of person staying on until an inquiry is complete. My speaking notes pale into insignificance compared to Senator O'Toole's explanation of the need for the amendment. The work of the company law review group on the consolidation of company law is a huge...

Seanad: Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (26 Nov 2009)

Billy Kelleher: I thank Senators for their co-operation with the Bill. This is the second company law Bill initiated in the Seanad in 2009; therefore, we are fond of introducing such legislation here. This is a Chamber that can help in broadening the knowledge and input into legislation. On an issue raised by Senator O'Toole in the context of the company law review, there has already been broad...

Flood Relief: Statements. (24 Nov 2009)

Billy Kelleher: I express my deepest sympathies to the people of Cork not only for the damage done to homes, but to businesses, public buildings and utilities, and also for the emotional trauma caused to individuals and the collective community. I wish to record my appreciation of the emergency services, the Garda, the Army, Civil Defence, community groups, fire brigades and public officials who implemented...

Flood Relief: Statements. (24 Nov 2009)

Billy Kelleher: -----finds itself without water. It is bad enough to be dealing with the floods but now there is non-availability of water to the homes of 80,000 people. The emergency services are doing their best but if there had been some forward planning and foresight many of these issues might have been avoided. More fundamentally, water supply must be examined. An outside organisation should be...

Flood Relief: Statements. (24 Nov 2009)

Billy Kelleher: -----to see whether the location was correct in the first place but also, equally important, why a city, particularly its most affected north side, should be entirely dependent on one pumping station. I urge all retailers not to profiteer with regard to the supply of drinking water. Most are not doing this but some are.