The primary purpose of section 28 of the State Property Act, 1954 is to ensure that there is no gap in legal ownership of the assets of a dissolved company. Once a company is struck off, then its assets vest in the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The vesting is automatic and does not require any intervention from the Minister. As a result, the Minister is not aware of assets vested in him on the dissolution of a company and therefore it is not possible to quantify or value assets that may have devolved to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform under the State Property Act, 1954.
The following amounts have transferred in respect of the monetary assets of dissolved companies to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in the past three years:
2013 - €151,997
2014 - €10,843,477*
2015 - €513,400
2016 (to date) - €371,483
The interest acquired by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform is described as a defeasible interest as it may be defeated by the restoration of the company, which can happen up to 20 years after its dissolution. In respect of real property, the interest acquired is subject to any encumbrance or charges affecting the land immediately before the dissolution of the company.
It is open to the Minister to consent to the re-instatement of a company or the Minister has the discretion to waive his interest, where after a due diligence process, he is satisfied that it is appropriate to do so.
* The assets of one company represented €10,697,278 of the overall total received.
