Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

All the amendments and the entire Bill have been proofed by the Director of Corporate Enforcement and he has indicated to me that the phrase, "books or documents" is more than adequate to deal with his needs. Section 19(1) of the Companies Act 1990 states:

The Minister may, subject to subsection (2), give directions to any body requiring the body, ... at such time and place as may be specified in the directions, to produce such books or documents as may be so specified...

This means the director can and may - not shall - make direction to any body as to what he wants to access. By saying it is just books or documents and given the interpretation in place and given the powers he has under section 19, his view is that he has more than adequate recourse within the law to get anything that is necessary and that "classes of books and documents" are a subsection of "books and documents". I would be assured on the basis of what the director has said to me and to the officials, that he has adequate recourse to get whatever is needed and he can make direction as well under section 19 and this will be augmented by this amending Bill. I hope this will reassure the House that in the view of the director he is not curtailed in any way in gaining access to the information.