On Tuesday 9 June, the issue of directors’ compliance statements was debated in the Seanad at Report and Final stage of the Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009. As previously advised, a proposed amendment to the Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009 would have seen a revised form of directors’ compliance statement being added to the Bill. The proposed amendment would have imposed additional and more onerous obligations on directors if accepted.
The Minister for State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Billy Kelleher, told the Seanad that the Government’s preference was to address the issue of directors’ compliance statements in the Companies Consolidation and Reform Bill which is expected to be published in 2010. He said that the Director of Corporate Enforcement, Paul Appleby, had accepted this. The proposed amendment was put to a vote and defeated. This means that from a practical perspective, the directors’ compliance statement provision will not appear on the statute books until at least 2010 or later.
