Vol. 426 No. 6
92 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment if he has received requests to appoint a High Court inspector to a company (details supplied) in view of the inability of the Garda authorities to satisfactorily complete their own inquiries; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The company to which the Deputy refers is a Gibraltar registered company which, by order of the Gibraltar Supreme Court, has been in liquidation since 1984. Although the company does not ever seem to have been registered as carrying on business in this jurisdiction, there was an Irish dimension as it seems to have been, by all accounts, under the control of an Irish national. In addition, many of those who invested in it appear to have been from Northern Ireland in particular. The company has its genesis here going back to the seventies in the form of an industrial and provident society. This society ceased operations around 1978 when new legislation in that sphere was imminent and transferred certain assets and liabilities to the Gibraltar-based company. Public advertisments placed at the time by the Registrar of Friendly Societies did not elicit any substantiated claims from depositors that moneys were owed by the society.
Various representations about the company, including allegations of criminal offences within this jurisdiction and requests for the appointment of a High Court inspector have been made both to me and to my predecessors. While I have certain powers under the Companies Acts relating to the appointment of inspectors to conduct investigations into the affairs of companies, I have no reason to demur from the view of a predecessor of mine than no useful purpose would be served by invoking these powers in this case.
Allegations made have been subject to full investigation by the Garda in 1984-85 and 1988 as well as review on a number of other occasions. I understand that a file in the case was referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions but the director signified that there should be no prosecution. I am also informed that the Garda authorities have indicated that if any new evidence is adduced in the case it will be thoroughly investigated and, if appropriate, again referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
