In our April 2009 Legal News we reported on the Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009, which proposed to increase directors’ disclosure requirements.  In early June the Bill was debated in Seanad Eireann. During the debate Senator Joe O’Toole sought to include a provision on directors’ compliance statements in the Bill.

Section 45 of the Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Act 2003 provided for directors’ compliance statements to be included in the directors’ reports annexed to the audited accounts. Due to concerns expressed at the time that Act entered into force, section 45 has not yet commenced. Senator Joe O’Toole proposed to include a more onerous version of the current section 45 provision into the Bill, the rationale being that the current business environment justified such an approach.

Deputy Billy Kelleher, the Minister for State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment advised that the Government has decided that the issue of directors’ compliance statements would be best dealt with in the Company Law Consolidation and Reform Bill, due to be published in 2010.

The Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009 will be returned to Dail Eireann and it is expected that a copy of the Bill will be presented to the President for signature very shortly.