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Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement Data

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 July 2018

Tuesday, 10 July 2018

Questions (73)

Maurice Quinlivan

Question:

73. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the status of the reform of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, ODCE; when she plans to publish the report into the failings of the ODCE in the investigation of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30602/18]

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Oral answers (8 contributions)

I am seeking an update on the reform of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and when the Minister will be publishing her report on the failings of the ODCE in the Sean Fitzpatrick investigation.

Organisational reforms in the ODCE were commenced in 2012 by the current Director of Corporate Enforcement upon his appointment in order to enhance the capability of the office to investigate complex breaches of company law and to ensure a more efficient and effective use of its resources.  These reforms include reorganising the structure of the office and recruiting additional expertise, including seven forensic accountants, a digital forensic specialist, two enforcement portfolio managers and an enforcement lawyer. In addition, a forensic accountant was identified from a recruitment campaign run by the Public Appointments Service, PAS, and is expected to be appointed shortly.  Similarly an enforcement lawyer has been identified and an assignment date is expected shortly.

As senior level vacancies have arisen, there has been a reconfiguration of the skill sets, competencies, roles and responsibilities associated with those posts to better reflect the organisation's current needs. The investigative procedures used by the office have been fundamentally amended so that members of An Garda Síochána take the lead in all criminal investigations. A greater culture of risk management has also been fostered within the office. A key action in the Government's package of measures to strengthen Ireland's response to white-collar crime centres on the establishment of the ODCE as an agency.

Work on the development of the legislative framework for the establishment of the ODCE as an agency is well advanced.  It is expected that the general scheme of a Bill to give effect to this decision will be forthcoming in the third quarter of 2018, with publication of the final Bill expected by the end of the fourth quarter. Changing the structure of the ODCE from an office to a statutory agency will provide greater autonomy to the agency and ensure it is better equipped to investigate increasingly complex breaches of company law. Sourcing of expertise and specialist staff, such as forensic accountants, will be enhanced under the agency model. The ODCE has played, and continues to play, a vital role in facilitating compliance and enforcement of company law.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

The ODCE has been successful in several recent high-profile white-collar crime prosecutions. In 2014, two individuals were convicted for the giving of unlawful financial assistance by Anglo Irish Bank for the purchase of its own shares and in 2016 and one individual was convicted of fraudulent trading on foot of a plea of guilty. Also in 2016, another individual was convicted for failing to maintain a licensed bank's register of loans to directors on foot of a plea of guilty. In 2017, a person was arrested and charged with fraudulent trading based on an invoice discounting fraud, entered a plea of guilty and was sentenced in March 2018 to 18 months in prison, with the final six months suspended. The person was also disqualified from being a director for a period of five years. In June 2018, a person entered a plea of guilty on ten counts of offering unlawful financial assistance, relating to loans provided to property developers by Anglo Irish Bank.

Over the past ten years the ODCE has referred files in respect of a number of investigations to the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, on foot of which the latter has directed a total of 214 charges on indictment.

The Director of Corporate Enforcement delivered his report to the Minister's office this time last year. I appreciate that she is the third Minister in that office in a short period but surely a summary of the report is finalised by now and could be published. On the new agency, will the reformed ODCE have a significantly larger budget? It is worrying to think that the ODCE is currently only allocated €5 million per year. That amount is equivalent to the budget allocated to the famous spin unit the Taoiseach established. It is over €1 million less than what was provided at the height of the recession in 2010. The new agency must be well resourced in the context of its budget, staffing and powers to ensure white-collar crime is investigated thoroughly, particularly as many people at present do not believe that it is.

On the report into the shortcomings identified by Judge Alymer, my Department sought the advice of the Attorney General on this document. My Department is considering that advice and it is important that the account is in line with fair procedures, due process and natural justice. I intend to publish the account very shortly.

On the funding of the ODCE, the funding allocation in 2017 was €4.895 million and in 2018 it is €5.057 million. Organisational reforms undertaken by the ODCE since 2012, together with the ongoing recruitment of staff with a variety of specific skills and expertise I outlined, mean that it is well resourced to tackle increasingly complex breaches of company law. As of 10 July, the number of Department staff in place in the ODCE is 38 - that is actual staff and not full time equivalents. In addition, seven gardaí are assigned to the ODCE and, over recent years, 11 professional staff have been recruited to the office to enhance its capability to deal with increasingly complex investigations. I am satisfied that the ODCE has sufficient resources to enable it to carry the important work it does.

Will the Minister confirm when the companies (enforcement) Bill will be published and come before the Dáil, and is it a priority for the Minister? I refer also to whether she is satisfied in respect of the mistakes made in the past, mistakes that unfortunately we in the Opposition are still not fully aware of due to the report not being published. Is the Minister also looking at white-collar crime agencies internationally and will she give us an insight into her plan for the new agency that is proposed?

To which Bill did Deputy Quinlivan refer?

The companies (enforcement) Bill.

Work is under way on these Bills and I expect that the legislation in question will be forthcoming in the near future. We are doing much work to tackle white-collar crime and it is important that this work is done. We have taken a range of measures and the Government is committed to ensuring this new ODCE agency will be created in keeping with international best practice, including its internal controls, staffing, budget, etc. We want to ensure that we tackle white-collar crime. We have a number of Bills to facilitate that and we want to ensure that they are enacted as quickly as possible.

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