Results 1,061-1,080 of 4,608 for speaker:Joe O'Toole

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: The point at issue is clear. We should be increasing the fines in regard to these issues. If this is not the correct way to do it, we should be doing it the right way. We listened to the contributions on Second Stage. Senator Callely spoke about various problems with laws and asked if this legislation could provide for this, that or the other. I will call for a vote on every section. I...

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: The Minister is absolutely correct in the point she makes about the broadness of the interpretation. I have been on the receiving end of this issue where lawyers just read exactly what the Minister has read out and which is certainly broad enough. However, there is a suggestion there that the director has to know what he is looking for, if the Minister understands me. The reference to...

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: On a point of clarification, these additional powers which the Minister has given to the Director of Corporate Enforcement, are general powers and not just to do with loans. Do I take it they just extend his powers for any of his work?

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I thank the Minister.

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I prefer Fine Gael when it is in a more exuberant mood. I do not see myself as a Member of the Opposition, but take each issue as I find it. In this case I find myself very firmly on the side of the Government. Whereas I take the point Senator Cannon made as regards the importance of them, I certainly do not want people prohibited from diligently doing their work. Nonetheless, the words...

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: In an attempt to be helpful to Senator Cannon, I ask the Minister to clarify the following point. If a company felt it was being unfairly dealt with and that what was happening was not practicable, what recourse would be available to it? It is my understanding that the company could seek a mandamus injunction requiring the Director of Corporate Enforcement to return the documentation. In...

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I would like to hear the basis of Senator Cannon's amendment. I am always reluctant to make references to the Constitution in legislation. All legislation must be constitutional. Was a particular issue in this regard brought to Senator Cannon's notice? I have spoken on this issue several times in the House. If one makes reference to constitutional rights in legislation one must do so in...

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: It is worth teasing out the matter. I refer to the recent Northern Bank money laundering case. It took a team of 26 gardaí several months to examine one series of documents on computer and on file. They had to go through every document and that was outlined in the court. One side of the argument is related to the length of time it takes to go through computerised information because one...

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: From experience, I do not believe that would quicken matters in any way. I would be very open to a change if change were necessary to get the right balance. However, to get the right balance one must go to the middle and the only middle ground I can see is the phrase "reasonably practicable". If there is another form of words which could deal with both ends of the argument we should...

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: This is very sensible and we should support it. This is an example of where the pendulum shifts to require the Director of Corporate Enforcement to go to court. This balance is present in the Bill, which I am sure he finds something of a pain at times. However, we have inserted this protection and it is quite correct to do so.

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: These issues change with the public mood. The provenance of this legislation is simple. As Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Minister's predecessor would deal with this issue very quickly. When she was in front of the Committee of Public Accounts in 2002 discussing the issue of offshore accounts, she said we would never again have to listen to the argument...

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I was waiting for someone to give me an answer on section 31.

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I am a complex person.

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: I accept what the Tánaiste has said. It matches my understanding of the position. It might help Senator Cannon if a comma were included after the word "company" in the proposed new section 40 of the 1990 Act. Although the word "who" cannot refer to a company, the manner in which the proposed section is worded almost suggests the company is being referred to. The Tánaiste has made it...

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: Is there a date for that Bill?

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: Will I have retired at that stage?

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: That does not always happen, unfortunately.

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: Three cases of this nature were reported in one of yesterday's newspapers. In one case, four different family members were included in an action. When I read about the case, I wondered whether each of the four people in question knew what they were getting themselves into. That is part of the problem in many cases. The points made by the Tánaiste seem reasonable. I do not think she will...

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: Senator Cannon has a very strong point on this issue. Maybe there is something in the Bill that we do not understand. It seems, however, that what Senator Cannon feared in respect of the earlier amendment could happen under this provision, that a company could be in default and a director who acted honourably and correctly but was kept in the dark would be guilty of an offence. There seems...

Seanad: Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (20 May 2009)

Joe O'Toole: What about a loan made to director A that is hidden from directors B and C?