Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, who must be getting fond of us in this House. I am delighted to see her back here again wearing a hat that is different from her normal one. I welcome the basis of the Bill, and the most interesting figure given today is Senator White's claim that Circuit Court costs are 30% less than High Court costs, which means a lot to small businesses ending up in court.

I will examine a little more closely any legislation that is hindering the development of business. Electronic filing for court cases is great but I wonder if we could do much more in this respect for small and medium enterprises. The Bill aims to provide a more efficient electronic filing of accounts with the Companies Registration Office but we must consider electronic filing for court documents in order to lessen the burden on business. We know court cases are an extreme burden on business, as Senator Hayden mentioned a few minutes ago, and this applies in particular to small and medium enterprises, as costs could easily put them out of business.

How could we make the system easier to navigate? The World Bank has raised the case of South Korea, which in 2010 launched an electronic case filing system that enables electronic submission, registration, service notification and access to court documents. In 2012, lawyers filed just over a third of almost 1 million cases electronically. Every month more lawyers are using the new system as they are attracted by its convenience and although we have a long way to go, we can now work much more efficiently than we did in the past. It is said that so called electronic courts, or e-courts, include cost and space savings, increased security, greater transparency and expanded access to justice, with round-the-clock filing and remote access, as people can file documents without having to go to a particular building. Savings from the implementation of an e-court system can be substantial and result in a reduction in the use of paper. I have a hang-up about the outrageous waste of paper in these Houses, as the Order Paper is delivered to us every day in an envelope. We could do much to lessen paper usage here and in business.

The time spent in court, the need for storage space and archiving of documents can be streamlined and made much more efficient than in the past. Data indicates that contract enforcement in economies with e-filing is of great benefit in protecting companies that have run into difficulty. Has the Minister of State comes across that issue? Such a measure would help make things easier and faster for businesses in court cases and give them added protection. It would be worthwhile considering that point and although I do not expect an answer today, we should examine the matter.

The Minister for Justice and Equality may be more involved in this than the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation as the issue relates to company law, although it could be expanded at a later stage. Surely an examinership process, for example, would be easier with e-filing? Will the Minister of State indicate if we could include an amendment that would allow the Minister to consider the issue of e-filing of court cases with the aim of reducing the burden on businesses? That amendment might help but it would not tie anything down.

We should also reduce the number of procedures required to set up a business. We need to learn from the best when it comes to reducing red tape and the burdens that imposes on businesses that are being set up. We should make it as easy as possible to set up businesses as if we can encourage that, we will go a long way towards creating employment. According to the World Bank's cost of doing business report in 2014, it takes four procedures and as long as ten days to start a business in Ireland, whereas in Singapore it takes just three procedures and two and a half days, at a cost of approximately €400. New Zealand is even better, taking just one procedure and half a day to set up a business. All a person has to do is register with the companies office on-line, which costs less than €100. That is even better than in Panama, where I visited some years ago. People there told me they were setting out to be the easiest country in which to set up a new business, aiming to do it in seven hours. The country is not in the report as being at that level yet but it has recognised that if it is to create business in Panama, it will have to follow New Zealand and Singapore. We should be learning from that by using e-filing and doing what we can through electronic means, which are now much more secure than they have been.

I thought such means were very secure until this week.

By the sound of it, the company in County Clare has ended up with a huge disaster in terms of their reports because they had such an amount of information and somebody has been able to hack into it. I do not think that should upset us to the extent of saying that we will think twice. It is possible to solve the problem and we must do something about it. If we can make Ireland a better and easier place to set up a small business, remove red tape and make it attractive in the way we have done with foreign direct investment then we could create a revolution in small business start-ups.

I have travelled around the country a lot in recent years and observed small businesses. Sometimes there is almost a death wish. They think it is very difficult to set up a new business. They have almost got to the point of saying it is no good going to bank to get money because they will not give it to them, yet on the other hand, when they do make a good case the banks have money to lend. We keep hearing it is the other way around, but to a great extent many small businesses are inefficient at making the case for themselves. The Bill, which I welcome, will ensure there is only one step. I also welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to the House.