Joe O'Toole (Independent)

They took responsibility, as a matter of principle, but their board decided that it was incorrect to hold them responsible because they had done as much as they were required to do and that there had been a systems breakdown.

One cannot hold directors responsible for the nefarious activities of someone in a backroom somewhere. If that were the case I would support Senator Quinn. If we ever reach a situation where right thinking honest people are punished for decisions which are undermined by people who have criminal minds we will be doing an absolute disservice. That would be unfair and wrong and there would be no support for it. That is not what is intended here.

Companies are required to be compliant with regard to Irish Companies Acts, Irish tax law, the Competition Act and with regard to environmental and other issues. We could have written one line in the Bill requiring directors to certify that their company is compliant with every law. That was the demand of many groups, including environmentalists. However, it was felt that that would have been an unfair way of doing things and that we should specify the areas in which the company should be compliant. I could give a million examples of non-compliance. A person running a transport company might use unmarked diesel or a person running a liquor company might use liquor on which excise duty had not been paid. Senator Quinn referred to the misuse of plastic bags or an error in inequality legislation. Such situations are covered by the insertion of the words, "may materially affect". If the action did not materially affect the financial statement it would not be a concern under this section.