Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 April 2018
617. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the requirements relating to the publication of accounts in respect of Irish operations by suppliers of energy to domestic and business consumers. [16063/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe requirements regarding the preparation and publication of the financial statements of limited companies and groups are provided for by the EU Accounting Directive (2013/34/EU) and by the EU Regulation 1606/2002 and the International Financial Reporting Standards adopted by the EU under the provisions of that Regulation. These requirements are largely given effect in Irish law in the Companies Act 2014, mainly in Part 6 of that Act. The requirements concerning the financial statements of unlimited companies are governed by national legislation, which is also provided for in the Companies Act 2014.
The requirements for publication of financial statements are of general application and are not determined on the basis of the sector in which a company or group operates. Rather the requirements are determined according to factors such as where a company or its parent is registered, for example, within the EEA or outside of the EEA; and the corporate form of the Irish business, for example a branch or a subsidiary of another company or group.
Irish subsidiaries of companies incorporated in the EEA, may submit the audited group accounts of their parent to the Companies Registration Office (the CRO) instead of their own individual accounts provided that certain conditions are met.
An Irish company that is a subsidiary of another company while itself being the holding company of yet other companies is exempt from the requirement to prepare consolidated accounts where it and the group of which it is the holding company are included in the consolidated accounts of the larger group and other specified conditions are met. The conditions vary depending on whether the holding company of the larger group is incorporated in an EEA state or in a country outside of the EEA.
There are specific requirements where a company incorporated outside the State operates in Ireland through a branch, as distinct from a subsidiary. These are contained in Part 27 of the Companies Act 2014, “External Companies”, and are largely based on EU requirements. The company incorporated outside of the State must file its own accounts, not those of the branch, with the CRO. The exception to this is where the company is incorporated in a country outside of the EEA and that country does not require the company to prepare and publish its accounts. In those situations, the accounts of the Irish branch must be prepared and filed in the CRO.
