Vol. 526 No. 4
72 Mr. Naughten asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the progress to date of the various inspections and inquiries being carried out in her Department; and when these inquiries will be completed. [27070/00]
Five examinations of company books and documents are ongoing in my Department under section 19 of the Companies Act, 1990. The companies involved are Celtic Helicopters Ltd., College Trustees Ltd., Guinness & Mahon (Ireland) Ltd., Hamilton Ross Co. Ltd. and Kentford Securities Ltd. I expect to receive final reports on a number of these companies in the coming months.
Since I last replied to the House on this matter on 12 October, an appeal has been lodged with the Supreme Court, on 31 October 2000, in relation to the High Court decision of Mr. Justice Butler of 28 July last, concerning my appointment of an authorised officer under section 19 of the 1990 Act to Dunnes Stores Ireland Company and Dunnes Stores (ILAC Centre) Ltd. Until the outcome of that appeal is known, it is not possible to estimate when these investigations will be concluded.
Three companies are also being investigated by High Court Inspectors under section 8 of the Companies Act, 1990. The companies involved are National Irish Bank Limited, National Irish Bank Financial Services Limited and Ansbacher (Cayman) Limited. As regards the section 8 High Court inquiry into Ansbacher Cayman Limited, I expect that it will be at least six months before this inquiry can be completed.
The section 8 inquiry into National Irish Bank Ltd. and National Irish Bank Financial Services Ltd. is also ongoing and I hope the inspectors' inquiry can be concluded early in 2001. Section 8 inspectors operate to the mandate of the High Court and will make such reports to the court in due course.
The reports on Bula Resources (Holdings) plc., Garuda Limited and National Irish Bank Financial Services Limited are with the Director of Public Prosecutions. I have no information on his intentions with respect to any of these reports. Consultations with my legal advisers are ongoing regarding the initiation of summary prosecutions for breaches of the Companies Acts identified in the Bula report. Summary proceedings have been instituted for breaches of the Companies Acts arising from the section 19 report on Faxhill Homes Ltd. The cases are listed for hearing on 30 November and 1 December 2000.
As I previously indicated, the section 19 report on IIB Bank Limited, formerly known as Irish Intercontinental Bank Limited, which I received on 1 June 2000, has been forwarded to the High Court Inspectors appointed to Ansbacher (Cayman) Limited, the Moriarty and Flood tribunals of inquiry, the Minister for Finance, the Central Bank and the Revenue Commissioners.
More than 12 months ago, on 3 November 1999, the Minister told the House that the Celtic Helicopters, Guinness & Mahon, Hamilton Ross and Kentford Securities investigations were substantially completed. Going back over the replies the Minister has given to this question over the past 18 months, there is a great similarity between them.
A question, Deputy, please.
Can the Minister tell us, with any degree of reasonable certainty, when these reports will be completed and published?
They are virtually completed. There may be reasons some of them may not be signed off on until others are completed. I must accept the authorised officer's judgment and his legal advice on these matters. I am satisfied that, before long, all the reports of the investigations will be completed and it will then be a question of whether they go to another level, to a High Court inspectorate, or are forwarded to existing tribunals and inquiries. Unfortunately these inquiries take a long time because there are a substantial number of years involved, a great deal of data to be examined and a number of individuals to be interviewed. There is also the legal process. The small team of people who have been involved, on behalf of the State, in carrying out these inquiries have been working morning, noon and night and, on many occasions, on weekends and have shortened holidays in order to facilitate the inquiries. I have a very high regard for the standard of work and the manner in which the reports are being completed.
The sheer volume of inquiries has placed a big burden on the resources within that unit in my Department and that is one of the reasons we are setting up a new company law enforcement office so that, in future, we will have a more independent mechanism for ensuring company law is enforced and, where there are breaches, action is taken. That office will be resourced by the appropriate personnel, including accountants, barristers and members of the Garda Síochána. That is an important development for the future so that we do not have such a high volume of inquiries again.
The Minister said on 3 November last year that these reports were substantially completed, yet, 12 months later, none of them has been completed nor has any decision been taken on them. On the reports that have been completed, has the Minister sought permission from the companies involved to publish them? On the lodgement of the appeal to the Supreme Court, there is a time factor on these investigations. When is that critical date? When does the Minister hope the Supreme Court case will take place?
I have sought the permission of the companies. It was not forthcoming from two of them. The Deputy should understand that these inquiries are interconnected. It is a little like a jigsaw. It is not a question of signing off and com pleting one, and ordering them in that fashion. I envisage a couple of them may be completed together for legal reasons and because they are connected. Some of the findings of the authorised officer to date have been made available to the Flood and Moriarty tribunals and to the High Court inspectors appointed to look into the Ansbacher payments.
