Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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364. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the position regarding the full enactment of the Companies (Corporate Governance, Enforcement and Regulatory Provisions) Act 2024, specifically in relation to audit exemptions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37340/25]

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The Companies (Corporate Governance, Enforcement and Regulatory Provisions) Act 2024 was signed into law on 12th November 2024, with 64 of the 90 sections of the Act being commenced on 3rd December 2024.

Section 22 of the Act provides for a change to the current audit exemption regime, whereby small and micro sized companies will not, in future, automatically lose the privilege of audit exemption on a first occasion, in a five year period, of late filing of an annual return with the Companies Registration Office (CRO). This will ease the burden on small and micro sized companies and is considered appropriate, bearing in mind the importance of timely filing of annual returns with the CRO and having a proportionate penalty regime for late filing.

The remaining provisions not yet commenced require development work on the CRO online filing system. Work to facilitate changes to the audit exemption regime was prioritised and is now complete and I expect that this section will be commenced in the coming weeks. The other provisions will be commenced later in 2025 as soon as the related preparatory work has been completed.