Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I welcome the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. As she said, this Bill is introduced just a short time after it was suggested in the High Court that the investigation by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement into the affairs of Anglo Irish Bank was being frustrated by outdated company law. The Labour Party welcomes the broad thrust of the Bill.

Whatever powers are required by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement to do its job must be provided. I welcome the provisions to enhance further the powers of that office and to improve the transparency of loans made by banks to their directors. The Bill also improves the transparency of transactions between companies and their directors and amends the requirement for companies incorporating the State to have Irish-resident directors. In addition, the Bill changes the scope and effect of legal professional privilege in certain circumstances. All these changes are to be welcomed. I hope they are comprehensive enough to provide solutions to the problems encountered by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement.

The Bill addresses a deficiency in the Companies Act 1963 by affording the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement the right to inspect and take copies of the required register of all declarations of interest by directors in contracts or proposed contracts. There is no legislative point in requiring such a register to be maintained if it is not open to inspection. In addition, powers to seize information found on a premises entered into on foot of a search warrant have been extended. The Bill will allow an officer of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement to remove information and other materials from the site of an investigation pending a determination of the appropriateness of such action. The duration of search warrants issued to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, which are currently valid for no more than one month, may now be extended on application to a District Court judge.

Section 23 of the Companies Act 1990 allows a person to refuse to disclose what he or she considers to be privileged information to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement. The Bill will change that and enable the director to seize privileged information, provided it maintains the confidentiality of the information until such time as a court determines if the information is, in fact, protected by legal privilege, and allow for the appointment of a suitably qualified independent person to prepare a report on the disputed information if it is so disputed.