Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank sincerely all Members of the Seanad and the Dáil who have helped to progress this legislation and bring it to a conclusion today. I thank the Company Law Review Group, which did the initial preparatory work, the officials in my Department and the officials in the Office of the Attorney General. They have worked really hard to ensure we could get this legislation passed before the summer recess. It is important it has been passed before the recess because it is about protecting our small and micro enterprises and the jobs they support. Research by the Central Bank indicates that the horrendous financial situation of the past 18 months has disproportionately affected our small and micro businesses, 78% of which operate in sectors either moderately or highly affected by the pandemic. That equates to about 156,000 enterprises supporting 788,000 jobs. It was therefore necessary for us to give viable businesses an opportunity to be able to restructure in an administrative process, a process that will be more timely and more cost-efficient than the examinership process. Those businesses will now have the opportunity to restructure and to restart and will be able to protect the jobs they support. These businesses are present right throughout the length and breadth of this country, in every parish and every town. That is why it was so important that this legislation was passed before the summer recess. We would not have been able to do this were it not for the co-operation of all sides of the House, particularly the members of the Oireachtas committee for waiving pre-legislative scrutiny. I thank them for that. It was my priority on being appointed a Minister of State that we would have this legislation done before the summer recess.Some people said that it was too ambitious and we would not be able to do it, but thanks to the Senators' co-operation, we were able to do it. It goes to show that when we work together in this House for the betterment of the people we are elected to represent, we can make a positive difference. I have no doubt that this piece of legislation is going to make an immense difference to many of our small and micro companies.

I thank the Senators for their support of the Bill and for their good wishes ahead of my marriage on Thursday.