Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

The court can compel. If I was to accept the amendment, this section would contain provision for a fine of up to €10,000 while the next would allow for a fine of €1,900. We would have different amounts in different parts of the Companies Act. We would end up picking and choosing which fine would be €1,900 and which would be €10,000. On that basis I would prefer to wait for the consolidation legislation.

I am not here to take away from the strong message that is coming from this House and the Dáil that the legislation should be so robust that the Director of Corporate Enforcement will have the legislative power to deal with the issues that exist. That is what we want. We want to send a clear signal that if people do not co-operate with the director, the full rigours of the law will be used.

That must be balanced with the argument that we have so many good companies here because it is easy to set up, we support companies quickly and we do not have the same bureaucracy as other European companies. My Portuguese counterpart indicated that it is possible to set up a company there and be at work within 24 hours but that is too quick. When the Director of Corporate Enforcement insists he should have access, it should be given. The legislative measures are such that he can revert to the courts if needs be. In the new legislation, I would prefer not to have subsections coming in willy-nilly that do not give an overarching view of where we want our company law to be.

I am not nit-picking or saying I am not prepared to listen to what the Opposition has to say. Anyone who knows me knows I accept different perspectives. On this occasion, I feel that if €10,000 is predetermined in this section, I would have to reconsider all of the other fines in the companies legislation, which is what I will do in the consolidation Bill, which is why I prefer to wait.