Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 30 Mar 2000

Vol. 517 No. 2

Written Answers. - Non-resident Companies.

Jan O'Sullivan

Question:

43 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Finance the progress, if any, made in regard to the application of the terms of the Finance Act, 1999, to Irish registered non-resident companies; the steps, if any, being taken in regard to the 24,095 companies which failed to reply to letters from the Revenue Commissioners; the steps being taken to trace the 9,389 companies in respect of whom the letter was returned to the Revenue Commissioners marked 'addressee unknown'; when it is intended to commence striking from the register companies that have not complied with the requirements of the Act; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9358/00]

Minister for Finance (Mr. McCreevy)

The Deputy is seeking an update to the information which I gave on 23 February in reply to a question put down by Deputy Emmet Stagg. I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the position at 27 March is as follows. The examination of the 24,095 companies which failed to reply to the notices issued by Revenue remains ongoing. A comparison of these cases with the Companies' Office list of companies which have been struck-off and the receipt of some further replies have reduced the figure for companies which have failed to reply to 20,636. A final scan of the full list involving the checking of the up to date Companies' Office record for companies that may have changed the address of their registered office is now being carried out.

The 9,389 companies in respect of which the letter was returned to the Revenue Commissioners indicating that the addressee is unknown have been checked against the Companies' Office list of companies which have been struck-off. After excluding companies which have already been struck-off by the Companies' Office, the number in this category is reduced to 7,907. The work in establishing whether there are any new addresses for these companies on the Companies' Office record is ongoing and is expected to be completed shortly.

While it was intended to complete all examinations by the end of March, the volume of work has marginally delayed the program and it is now hoped to have a substantial list of companies ready for notification to the registrar by mid-April.

I indicated in my reply to Deputy Nora Owen on 10 November that, as well as writing to 38,996 incorporated prior to 11 February 1999, Revenue also wrote to 8,397 companies incorporated after that date. In respect of this latter group a list of approximately 3,000 will shortly be sent to the Companies' Office for strike-off consideration by the registrar under the Companies (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 1999.