Vol. 491 No. 3
79 Ms McManus asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will implement the recommendations made by the interagency-departmental working group in her Department regarding the operation of Irish registered non-resident companies; the progress, if any, made to date by the International Financial Services Centre; when it will report; if it is intended to publish the report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12054/98]
In my reply to Questions Nos. 61 and 64 on the 26 March 1998, I gave details of the two working groups to which the Deputy's question refers, the proposals which both groups were examining to address the IRNR problem and the recommendations which the interagency-departmental working group made to me in relation to these proposals.
I have accepted that the IRNR issue should be tackled on the three fronts recommended by the interagency-departmental group namely: in the taxation area, by equating registration with residency for tax purposes, subject to the grant of exemptions for certain companies, such as multinational companies; in the company law area through the introduction of requirements in relation to directorships and better enforcementstrike-off procedures and in the Criminal Justice Act, 1994, area, through the application of the money laundering provisions of this Act to company formation agents.
The Minister for Finance is currently considering what will be done in the taxation area.
In the company law area our Department has drawn up specific proposals in the areas in question in the form of draft heads for inclusion in the forthcoming Companies (Amendment) Bill. In addition, to the measures mentioned in my reply of 26 March 1998, these proposals also include a provision to amend section 12 of the Companies (Amendment) Act, 1982, to enable the Registrar of Companies to move to strike companies from the register in a more timely and efficient manner where companies do not comply with their filing requirements. The current position is that the draft heads have been circulated to interested parties for comments.
The question of whether company formation agents can be brought within the scope of the money laundering provisions of the Criminal Justice Act, 1994, is being considered by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
The IFSC group continues to operate and is currently monitoring progress in relation to the three proposals referred to. As indicated in my reply of the 26 March 1998, there are no written terms of reference set out for the IFSC group and my understanding is that they will not be drawing up or publishing any formal report. This group is a subgroup of the IFSC banking and treasury group which would of course report regularly on its activities to the clearing house group of the IFSC, the overseer of all IFSC working groups.
