Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 25 Feb 1999

Vol. 501 No. 2

Written Answers. - Departmental Investigations.

Paul McGrath

Ceist:

152 Mr. McGrath asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the companies being investigated by inspectors from her Department; the date each investigation commenced; the name of the inspector in each case; the projected completion date for each investigation; if she will bring forward legislative proposals to enable those reports to be published; and, if not, the way in which she anticipates putting those reports into the public domain. [5746/99]

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Ms Harney)

The investigations being undertaken by my Department are outlined in the following table. The table includes details of two recently completed investigations on which I will be making decisions in the coming weeks.

All of these investigations are taking place under section 19 of the Companies Act, 1990. Under section 21 of that Act, information obtained using section 19 powers may only be published with the prior approval of the company concerned. Disclosure is also permitted to specified competent authorities, including any court of competent jurisdiction. Whether or not such action is warranted will depend on the circumstances revealed by each report.

I do not propose to legislate to publish all such reports. However, I would like to widen the definition of competent authorities in a future companies Bill.

Section 19 Investigations.

Date of Appointment.	Authorised Officer.	Company.	Actual-Projected Completion Date.
9-9-1997	Gerard Ryan	Celtic Helicopters Ltd.	Mid-1999
9-9-1997	Peter Fisher	Garuda Ltd.	14 December, 1998
8-1-1998	Gerard Ryan	Ansbacher (Cayman) Ltd.	Mid-1999
8-1-1998	Gerard Ryan	Guinness & Mahon (Ireland) Ltd.	Mid-1999
8-1-1998	Gerard Ryan	Irish Intercontinental Bank Ltd.	Mid-1999
23-1-1998	Gerard Ryan	Hamilton Ross Co. Limited	Mid-1999
9-6-1998	Gerard Ryan	Kentford Securities Limited	Mid-1999
22-7-1998	George Maloney	Faxhill Homes Limited	22 December, 1998
22-7-1998	Gerard Ryan*	Dunnes Stores Ireland Company	End 1999
22-7-1998	Gerard Ryan*	Dunnes Stores (ILAC Centre) Limited	End 1999

*Note: Gerard Ryan replaced George Maloney on 13 August 1998 in these cases after the latter resigned his appointment. Mr. Maloney is a private sector accountant in practice who, although not from my Department, has been carrying out work on my behalf. Work on the two Dunnes Stores company investigations is suspended, pending the outcome of a second set of judicial review proceedings by the companies.