(Limerick East): This section puts certain requirements on the company to report to the Minister and to the Houses of the Oireachtas. To what extent are provisions such as this in other Bills and to what extent are they complied with? It seems to me that many of the commercial State bodies report late.
SECTION 31.
Question proposed: "That section 31 stand part of the Bill".
: Most of the companies are required to comply with this type of provision. Under this section the company is required to submit its annual report to the Minister. Subsections (2) and (3) ensure that the Minister will have available to him all the information he requires about the operations of the company and its financial position. Under these subsections the general corporate planning function will be discharged by the company in consultation with the parent Department. As with other commercial State bodies, the Minister will not be responsible for the day to day operations of the company and this is provided for in the Bill.
(Limerick East): While the Minister of State is seeking the power to require the company to report to the Minister not later than six months after the end of each accounting year, the only obligation on the Minister is that the report be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. There is no time limit applying to the Minister. Could the report be made to the Department and the Minister of the day with no requirement to proceed further in any particular time period?
: Is Deputy Noonan talking about the reporting procedures or what happens to the report when it is made available in the Houses of the Oireachtas?
(Limerick East): It seems the Minister of State is looking for an absolute requirement on the company to report within six months of the end of the accounting year.
: That is correct.
(Limerick East): When it comes to the obligations imposed on the Minister and his successors there is no time frame. It seems that under the section, as soon as the company has reported, the Minister has no obligation within any given period of time to present the report to the Houses of the Oireachtas. If the Minister is looking for time limits on the company he should also put a time limit on himself.
: That is a point. Section 31 (1) states: "not later than six months after the end of each accounting year, the company shall submit a report in writing to the Minister of its activities and those of any subsidiaries during that year and the Minister shall cause copies of the report to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas".
I presume that is within the same year. The reporting procedures are improving, vis-�-vis companies like this and the time frame is getting much shorter than it used to be. We hope to improve that. The point the Deputy is making, I presume, is that we must have it absolutely watertight and that there should be a finite date.
(Limerick East): If the Minister of State says that the Minister will report within the financial year to the Houses of the Oireachtas, will he bring in a Report Stage amendment to that effect?
: Based on what the Deputy said, I will have another look at it. We will also examine the existing situation in relation to semi-State bodies to see whether it is necessary to tighten it up. We will determine whether we should have an absolute reporting period for the Houses of the Oireachtas within a reasonable time after the report has been submitted to the Minister. I will look at that before Report Stage.
Question put and agreed to.