Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

237. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of court prosecutions initiated by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement in each of the years 2014 to 2018; the result of each of these court cases; the number and values of fines issued in each year; the value of fines collected each year; the value of fines still outstanding in respect of these prosecutions; the arrangements in place to collect the outstanding fines; if she will provide an age analysis of these outstanding fines; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15334/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The figures for summary prosecutions are set out in tabular form:

* In terms of prosecutions, the Director of Corporate Enforcement is only statutorily empowered to initiate summary prosecutions (i.e. prosecutions of relatively minor offences in the District Court).

** Persons includes Individuals and Limited Companies

*** One of the 2014 convictions was under appeal at the end of the year.  This appeal was determined in 2015 with the conviction confirmed but the fine imposed reduced from €10,500 to €3,750.

Figures for 2018 are provisional until the publication of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) Annual Report for 2018, and are subject to change.

Over the period 2014 to 2018, the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) initiated a total of 13 summary prosecutions (i.e., against individuals and/or companies) in the District Court. Such prosecutions can involve individuals or companies being charged with multiple alleged offences. Those prosecutions resulted in a total of 41 convictions being secured.

In terms of prosecutions, the Director of Corporate Enforcement is only statutorily empowered to initiate summary prosecutions (i.e. prosecutions of relatively minor offences in the District Court).

More serious alleged breaches of company law are prosecuted on indictment in the Circuit Court and only the Director of Public Prosecutions (“DPP”) can direct that charges be preferred on indictment.

The ODCE took a decision in recent years to concentrate its resources on more serious and complex investigations, the result of which is usually the submission of a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for consideration, as opposed to a summary prosecution.  Arising from the files submitted by the ODCE, the DPP has directed charges in a number of cases and prosecutions on indictment have followed.

The ODCE also exercised its right to make certain compliance applications to the High Court under Section 371 of the Companies Act 1963, now Section 797 of the Companies Act 2014, to secure compliance with Orders sought.

However, it should be borne in mind that, working within the context of a rectification policy, many issues can be addressed by exercise of powers without the necessity of bringing issues to the Courts for determination, for example: production of registers; directing the holding of Annual General Meetings; production of minutes of meetings; and regularising breaches of the director loan provisions which, in 2017, secured the rectification on a non-statutory basis, of suspected infringements of the Companies Act 2014, in relation to Directors’ loans in 39 cases, to an aggregate value of €15.5m approximately.

Furthermore, since June 2015, company directors facing restriction or disqualification proceedings before the Courts, can avoid Court proceedings by voluntarily agreeing to be restricted or disqualified for certain periods.  This provision ensures that company directors, who are considered to be in breach of the Companies Act 2014 and facing restriction or disqualification proceedings, are dealt with in an efficient and effective administrative manner without the need for the involvement of the Courts.

The collection of fines, and associated costs, is a matter for the Courts Service and, accordingly, any questions in relation to the collection of fines and costs should be directed to the Minister for Justice and Equality.