Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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78. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the actions her Department and bodies under the aegis of her Department have taken in response to each of the relevant recommendations of the interim report on the Committee of Public Accounts' examination of bank stabilisation measures. [34317/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Interim Report of the Public Accounts Committee’s examination of Bank Stabilisation measures made two recommendations as follows which relate to corporate law:

- A review of the systems, structures and procedures in place to investigate directors suspected of corporate wrong-doing in the State should be conducted with a view to streamlining the process and making it more efficient in terms of the pace of investigations.

- A review to update and strengthen the code of corporate law in respect of enforcement against individuals needs to be undertaken as a matter of urgency. The Committee suggests the Law Reform Commission may be an appropriate body to undertake such a review.

Since August 2012 when the current Director of Corporate Enforcement was appointed, there have been a number of organisational improvements in the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, with a view to streamlining investigations and making them more efficient.  These improvements include reorganising the structures of the Office; recruiting additional expertise, most notably five forensic accountants and a digital forensics specialist; fundamentally amending the investigative procedures used by the Office, with members of An Garda Síochána now taking the lead on all criminal investigations; and fostering a greater culture of risk management.

The Companies Act 2014 consolidated, modernised and reformed the company law code. It seeks to ensure a balance between simplifying the day-to-day running of a business; the compliance duties of company officers and auditors aimed at protecting creditors and investors; and the corporate enforcement regime to ensure compliance.

For the first time, all offences under company law have been streamlined under a new classification procedure which operates on the basis of four categories of offences, with Category 1 being the most serious, and carrying a maximum fine of €500,000 and/or a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years. This brings a structure and consistency to the offence provisions throughout the legislation.

The Act also introduced, for the first time in codified form, the various common law and statutory duties of directors, thereby making the law in this area more transparent and accessible.  The Act also provides for the Directors’ Compliance Statement. The relevant provisions apply to all public companies (except investment companies) and large limited companies.  It places an obligation on directors to make an annual statement in their Directors’ Report, acknowledging that they are responsible for securing the company’s compliance with its “relevant obligations”. Failure to prepare a Directors’ Compliance Statement is an offence under the Act.

In October 2013, the Government approved the content of the Law Reform Commission’s Fourth Programme of Law Reform. Among the eleven different projects selected for inclusion in the Programme was the question of reform of corporate offences and regulatory enforcement.

In January 2016, the Law Reform Commission produced a wide-ranging Issues Papers in which it outlined a range of issues touching on corporate criminality and regulatory enforcement and in respect of which it invited submissions and points of view from interested parties. A large volume of submissions was received from economic regulators, government agencies, law firms, private citizens and other stakeholders which will feed into its ongoing work on this project.

The Law Reform Commission anticipates completing its examination of corporate offences and regulatory enforcement and publishing its recommendations in the form of a consultation paper prior to the end of 2017.

As well as the work of the Law Reform Commission, the Company Law Review Group (CLRG), in accordance with its work programme for 2016 to 2018, is currently undertaking a comprehensive review of how company law is enforced in Ireland. Furthermore, it is examining whether there are any new mechanisms by which the existing enforcement regime might be refined and enhanced. I will carefully examine the report on its completion.

In addition, the Taoiseach has requested my colleagues the Minister for Justice and Equality, the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform and me to prepare a package of measures in relation to 'white collar crime' to be presented to Cabinet by the end of September.