Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Senator Byrne. I sincerely congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, on his appointment. It is well deserved, given his impact on politics throughout his political life, and he is well capable and able. I wish him the best. I also thank him for his detailed overview of this welcome legislation.There is an onus on all Senators and the entire Government to assist SMEs and companies as we try to recover from this Covid-19 pandemic. Companies have had to adapt and are finding new methods of responding to challenges. There has been a huge increase in people working from home, and while that is welcome and is required in the short term until we get back to full working order, it has its challenges. Increasing the ease with which companies can fulfil their compliance requirements is vital. Flexibility will be provided to companies in a number of ways and it is important that they still meet the compliance standards. Working from home is causing difficulties with documents which have been executed under seal and which had to be signed by company directors and company secretaries. This legislation addresses that difficulty on an interim basis and also allows the company seal and necessary signatures to be on separate documents, which will then be counted as a single document for the purpose of the Companies Act for the duration of the interim period.

Companies are finding current debt challenging and the increase in the threshold from €10,000 for an individual debt and €20,000 for aggregate debts up to €50,000 is welcome, as companies should not be worried about being compulsorily wound up for relatively small sums. The extension in the examinership period from 100 days to 150 days is also welcome. That will help companies and provide greater flexibility for examiners and companies to negotiate with stakeholders and possible investors to put together workable rescue solutions. The Minister of State outlined the additional time provided for companies to hold AGMs and the Bill clearly empowers them to hold such meetings by electronic means, as was noted by other Members. That provides clarity for companies.

I welcome the July stimulus package and the extension of the wage subsidy scheme for all SMEs and business owners, which is paramount because it brings certainty to businesses. The increase in the restart grant from €10,000 to €25,000 is welcome and the improvement of grants for SMEs is vital, as the Minister of State is well aware. Having spoken to people throughout Galway city and county in the last 24 hours, I know the 100% commercial rates waiver until the end of September is very welcome as well.