Legal changes to make setting up in business easier

COMPANY LAW is being changed to allow people to start new businesses without having to find a second director, Minister for Enterprise Richard Bruton said.

The major part of the Companies Bill will be published today.

When complete, it is expected to represent the largest piece of legislation in the history of the State.

Mr Bruton said the reforms would make it easier and cheaper to start and run a company limited by shares in the State.

According to Mr Bruton’s department, the administrative burden involved under current company law costs Irish business more than €100 million a year, or more than 5 per cent of the total burden of red tape.

“This reform . . . will have a significant impact on reducing business costs.

“After these reforms are enacted, for example, it will now be possible for a person to start a business without needing to find a second director,” he said.

Mr Bruton said small businesses would no longer have to hold a “physical” annual general meeting every year, while the burden of legal documentation on companies would be greatly reduced.

“And crucially, it will in many cases be easier for business-owners to find out the nature of their legal rights and duties without having to consult a lawyer,” he added.

The Bill will consolidate the 15 existing Company Acts dating back to 1963, as well as a number of statutory instruments and judgements.

“I have consistently said that if we are going to get the economy growing and if we are going to create and protect jobs, we must focus on three things: reducing costs to businesses; improving access to finance and encouraging R&D and innovation.”

He said he was determined to press ahead to complete the reforms “so that Irish businesses can benefit from them as soon as possible”.

Dr Tom Courtney, chairman of the Company Law Review Group, the statutory advisory expert body charged with advising the Minister on the matter, welcomed the publication as a “landmark moment”.

“The document . . . is the product of years of very careful and painstaking work in remodelling Irish company legislation around the entity which uses it most – the private company limited by shares – and in making that legislation more accessible to those who need to be familiar with its provisions, whether in the business community or professional advisers,” Dr Courtney said.