James Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and I welcome the Bill. As others have said, it is very important legislation. The Bill is quite lengthy and the Minister has given a very easy to understand précis of it. Some of the briefing was quite opaque, to be frank. Having said that, the Bill is very welcome. We are still suffering the scars of the financial crisis and the performance of auditors in that situation around the world was less than impressive, so these new regulations and standards are very welcome. I also welcome the provision whereby the impact of late filing has been somewhat reduced on small and medium enterprises that have much to struggle with and many overheads.