Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 December 2013
67. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in view of the fact that the term "servant" appears in a number of instances in existing companies legislation and in the proposed Bill, if he will provide the Department's definition of "servant"; if he will undertake to incorporate the definition into the Bill, as the absence of same could lead to potential abuse; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53250/13]
View answerCompany law in Ireland is currently spread out over 16 enactments and numerous statutory instruments. The Companies Bill 2012 ("the Bill") is a consolidation of all these provisions in one Bill which aims to streamline, simplify and clarify the law. The Bill is the largest substantive Bill in the history of the State, spread out over 25 Parts, 17 Schedules and comprising some 1,429 sections.
Most of the existing references to "servant" are updated to "employee" in the Companies Bill 2012. For example, Section 285 of the Companies Act 1963 uses the terms "clerk, servant, workman or labourer"; however in the Bill the corresponding Section 622, uses the term "employee" exclusively. This is in line with the Company Law Review Group (CLRG) recommendation to modernise the language of this section. (Second CLRG Report at paragraph 4.19.4). The Department is currently examining a small number of other references to the term servant in the Bill to ensure that they are appropriate in the context of the relevant provision.
