Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Maybe so. There are a number of problems in this area, including the fact that a number of accountants have been expelled from professional bodies yet are still offering their services to the public. While there are strict standards within accountancy bodies, such as codes of practice, in essence they are voluntary.
There are also people operating outside the system. Even someone with a criminal conviction can set up a business and offer their accountancy service to the public. That is not a proper situation and Ireland is unlike many other EU member states in this regard. I am calling for some form of mandatory regulation within the Companies Bill covering the term “accountant” in order to provide better protection for the customer. Specifically, I strongly believe the term “accountant” should only be allowed to be used by those accountancy professionals who are supervised or authorised by the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority. The Minister of State mentioned them in his speech and that makes perfect sense.
There would be no cost involved with this measure but it would give more protection to businesses and individuals against fraud, deception and poor performance. I urge the Minister of State to address the area in the Bill which I believe would be simple and straightforward. I would really appreciate it if the Minister of State could address this problem as soon as possible - if not today, then on Committee Stage.
The Government should examine the possibility of not imposing the same burdens on small companies or SMEs, as those placed on a multinational company with thousands of employees. I note the Minister of State said that this Bill introduces a series of major reforms to reduce red tape. I think that this particular proposal would be very much in line with the Minister of State's goals. Should we impose the same legislation on a company the size of Google with thousands of employees and, for example, a small food company employing four people?
In France, many regulations come into force once firms employ 50 workers. We should consider doing something similar here. Has the Minister of State heard of this situation in France? Could we examine the French legislation and see if there is a chance we could somehow adopt - or, if necessary, adapt - it here?
It is unfair that massive multinationals are in some ways considered the same as SMEs. What are the Minister of State's views on this problem and could the Government do more to look at this area to help companies and SMEs in particular?
I attended the Springboard launch yesterday with the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, and the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon. It was interesting to meet some of those people at the launch, which Senator Mullins spoke about earlier. People such as architects, quantity surveyors or engineers may have ended up with degrees that are no longer of value to them. Such people, however, are now changing direction and taking on something else, usually in the high-tech or ICT sectors.
It is not fair that small companies should find it difficult to start up a business due to the amount of red tape involved. There should be one procedure, on one piece of paper, to set up a business. This tangible idea would reduce red tape and set the conditions to create businesses and jobs.
According to the World Bank's Cost of Doing Business Report 2014, it takes four procedures and as long as ten days to start a business in Ireland. I know the Minister of State disagrees with me and has said they have speeded that up, but the World Bank report is comparing us to all the other countries. In my opinion as a business person, this is simply too long. It is a real disincentive to establish a business if it takes so long to do so.
If it is made quicker and easier, it is a simple fact that more people will set up businesses, which is a good thing whether they succeed or fail. The New Zealand model is regarded as the best. There it takes just one procedure and half a day to set up a business at a cost of approximately €100. We should be aiming towards that benchmark. It should be possible to set up a business in Ireland with just one procedure in one day at a very low cost. We should examine how they do it in New Zealand. To the best of my knowledge, they do not have any big challenges there.
In Ireland, there are four specific procedures to set up a company: first, the founder of a company swears before a commissioner of oaths; second, they need to file necessary materials with the Companies Registration Office; third, they get a company seal; and fourth, they must register with the Revenue Commissioners for corporation tax, social insurance PAYE/PRSI and VAT.
My point is that these four procedures could be done on one piece of paper at a single location for a maximum once-off payment of €50. At the very least, it should be well under €100. Can the Minister of State say whether we are moving in this direction at all? We could do this on one simple piece of paper - ideally, electronically - so it would be super easy for a person to set up a business and give it a try. New Zealand has done it, so we can too. Let us at least set a target to get there by 2016, which is only two years away. Can the Minister of State comment on whether he would be open to setting this target? I have also put this point to the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, so I hope there will be a response to it.
Could the Minister of State include something in the Companies Bill on reducing the number of procedures to start a company? If not, could he at the very least look at possibilities in this area, including best practice internationally? One of the issues that we should make a priority when discussing companies legislation, is reducing the amount of red tape so that it is easy to start a company. The more businesses we encourage to start the better it is. Whether they fail or not is not the issue; we should encourage the formation of businesses. Those bright people who got the benefit of Springboard are exactly the ones to do that.
I have also proposed to the Minister, Deputy Bruton, that the Government should pledge to remove legislation. This proposal is related to improving conditions for companies in Ireland. It means that the Government would make a pledge to remove a piece of legislation affecting business for every piece of legislation it imposes on business. I think it is a smashing idea.
I would like to raise a specific example that I have raised before. In the UK, they introduced a system called "One in, one out" whereby if the Government introduced one measure that affected business, it would have to take another one out. They have even moved that on now and the new system is called "One in, two out" whereby the Government pledges to remove two bits of legislation for every one introduced. It is claimed that these measures have saved UK businesses around £1 billion in burdens since 2010. We should be seeking to do this here also in order to save Irish companies millions of euro.
Could the Minister of State include something in the Companies Bill to this effect? If not, could he propose this idea at Cabinet level in order that the Government would pledge to remove one piece of legislation affecting business for every one it introduces? That is only half what the British are doing.
The Seanad could even be tasked with finding some piece of legislation to remove. It would be fantastic to consider this matter, both in the Bill and in the wider idea of improving conditions for business in Ireland.
Those are some of the ideas that I wished to put forward.

They are not related to the immediate issues addressed in the Bill. I will express further views on these matters on Committee Stage.

While the Bill is welcome, I ask the Minister of State to respond to some of my proposals for creating conditions in which companies will thrive. The concept behind the Bill is correct and aimed at achieving the outcome we all seek. I wish the Minister of State with well with it.