Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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336. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of vacant positions in the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement; the length of time these positions have been vacant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49284/18]

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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338. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement has asked for additional funding, staffing or resources to date in 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49286/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 336 and 338 together.

The ODCE currently has one vacancy (Corporate Compliance Manager). Since his appointment, the current Director has undertaken a significant restructuring of the ODCE to better reflect the organisation’s needs in the context of both its strategic shift towards deploying resources towards more serious indications of wrongdoing and the increasingly complex environment within which the ODCE operates.

That restructuring has included the seeking of sanction for the recruitment of a substantial number of additional professional staff, and following receipt of sanction, the recruitment of eight accounting professionals, three legal professionals and a digital forensics professional, together with significant investment in a digital forensics laboratory, training and development. The recruitment and assimilation of a large number of new professional staff into a multi-disciplinary organisation that undertakes complex work in a fast-moving environment is a project that requires careful management. As such, the Director is of the view that it is preferable to allow that process to fully bed down before filling the aforementioned vacancy. The Director is further conscious of the fact that the transition of the ODCE to a stand-alone Agency will give rise to additional expertise requirements and, as such, is of the view that it is prudent that those considerations should be factored into developing the role, and associated skill set, required of the appointee.

As part of the annual budgetary process, the ODCE has sought additional funding in respect of 2019. This additional funding request is related primarily to the recent appointment by the President of the High Court of Inspectors to Independent News & Media plc. Under the Companies Act 2014, the costs associated with the Inspectorship are met, in the first instance, by the ODCE. Additional funding was also sought to reflect the likely costs associated with the transition of the ODCE into an independent Agency. An additional €1m was provided for the ODCE in the Budget announced on 9 October 2018.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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337. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the status of her plans to reform the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49285/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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One of the actions in the Government's package of Measures to Enhance Ireland’s Corporate, Economic and Regulatory Framework, published in November 2017, is the establishment of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) as an agency.

Work on the development of the legislative framework for the establishment of the ODCE as an agency is well advanced.  I intend to bring a General Scheme of a Bill to give effect to that action to Government very shortly.

Changing the structure of the ODCE from an office to a statutory agency will provide greater autonomy to the agency and ensure it is better equipped to investigate increasingly complex breaches of company law. Sourcing of expertise and specialist staff, such as forensic accountants, will be enhanced under the agency model.

This establishment of the ODCE as an Agency is intended to:

- Enhance the ODCE’s independence, by providing it with more autonomy, particularly the ability to recruit the required specialist skills and expertise;

- Build on its existing expertise and experience;

- Strengthen its capability to investigate increasingly complex breaches of company law; and

- Build on the organisational and procedural reforms that have been implemented.