I propose to take Questions Nos. 10, 20 and 38 together.
Sixteen investigations into company law related matters have been initiated by me since I came into office. In respect of three of these, on an application by me, the High Court appointed inspectors under section 8 of the Companies Act, 1990. These three inquiries are continuing. I am not in a position to say when the reports of the High Court inspectors will be completed or published in any of these cases.
One investigation under section 14 of the Companies Act, 1990 was completed in 1998. The report on this has been passed to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Eleven investigations were initiated under section 19 of the Companies Act, 1990. Four of these have been concluded. Of the four investigations completed, two of the reports were passed to the DPP. The file in one case was returned and a number of summary prosecutions have since been successfully concluded. One report provided an input into the successful application to the High Court for the appointment of inspectors under section 8 while the fourth report was passed to the relevant High Court inspectors.
Five investigations under section 19 are ongoing. Reports in respect of two of these are at an advanced stage of completion, with the remaining three reports expected to be completed during the course of 2002. Two investigations were held up in legal appeals; certain legal matters are still outstanding. It is a matter for the Director of Corporate Enforcement to decide how to proceed on these latter investigations.
One investigation was undertaken under section 59 of the Insurance Act, 1989. This report has been completed and referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions as well as to the inspectors undertaking the section 8 investigation into that company.
The costs incurred since 1997 on company investigations initiated by or on behalf of my Department currently amount to €8.267 million. This amount does not include the salary costs of Civil Service staff working on a number of these investigations. Similarly, the major proportion of the legal costs relating to the investigations is being borne by the Vote of the Chief State Solicitor. Most of this €8.267 million derives from the costs to date of the High Court inspectors appointed under section 8, that is, the NIB/NIBFS which is €4.5 million and Ansbacher, which is €2.5 million.
The question of recovering costs from the section 8 investigations does not arise until the inspectors have completed their investigations. Section 19 as originally enacted did not provide for recouping costs. This has now changed with the enactment of the Company Law Enforcement Act, 2001.