Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland (CPA Ireland)

Lobbying Organisation Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland (CPA Ireland)

Date published 16 Jan, 2018

Relevant Matter Legislation

Public Policy Area Finance

Period 1 Sep, 2017 to 31 Dec, 2017

Specific Details Seeking to amend the Companies (Statutory Audits) Bill 2017. Currently under section 343(5) a company may apply to the District Court for an extension of time to file an annual return and if the Court is satisfied that it would be just to do so, the time may be extended and that annual return will be deemed to have been received on time and the consequences of late filing (late filing penalties / loss of audit exemption) will not apply to that annual return.

Intended results The new Bill proposes to amend section 343 of the Companies Act 2014 such that this application must now be made to the High Court. The District Court will only have the authority to waive the late filing fee if a company is late filing. CPA Ireland is in opposition to this proposal and is lobbying to retain the right to apply to extend late filing in the District Court.

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Maureen Kelly, Knowledge Manager - CPA Ireland.

Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?) No

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? Yes

What is the directive you gave to the grassroots campaigners? Encouraging members to lobby their political representative.

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Email (2-5)

Communication was to CPA Ireland members only in e-bulletins and CPA Ireland events nationwide.

Event / Reception (2-5)

At training events countrywide, CPA Ireland members were encouraged to lobby on this matter.

Meeting (1)

The CPA Ireland President Deirdre Kiely when attending a photo shoot with Frances Fitzgerald, TD Dáil Eiréann, the Oireachtas, informed her of the issue and provided a briefing note on same.

Designated public officials lobbied

The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them. As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.

Frances Fitzgerald TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)