Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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90. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if there is any upcoming legislation to amend the rules whereby private companies, with a significant or large number of workers and a high level of commercial activity in important markets of the economy, must produce and disseminate public accounts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18877/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government has given approval for the drafting of a Bill to transpose the provisions of the new Accounting Directive (Directive 2013/34/EU on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings, amending Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council repealing Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC).

The principal effect of the Bill will be the amendment of Part 6 of the Companies Act 2014. The drafting of that Bill is advancing in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and it is my intention to bring it to the House at the earliest opportunity as the deadline for transposition is 20 July 2015.

The focus of the Directive is on small companies, so most of the changes in the Bill will affect small companies. Small companies qualify for audit exemption. As the thresholds for small and medium companies are considerably increased, the number of companies that will exceed those thresholds will be reduced. Therefore, the number of companies that qualify as large companies will be fewer. For the remaining large companies, the requirements for production and publication of accounts will remain largely unchanged and the Bill will reflect that.

However, the transposition of the Directive may have implications in this regard for unlimited companies. My Department and the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel are examining how best to give effect to those features of the Directive in the forthcoming Bill.