Change to laws costly for business

More inter-national companies may restrict their Irish presence to branches rather than full subsidiaries as a result of recent changes to Irish company law, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI) said yesterday.

The ICAI’s comments referred to the working of the Directors Compliance Statement, a new requirement.

ICAI President, Terence O’Rourke said: “We believe that a significant consequence of the guidance, as it is currently drafted, will force many companies to establish layers of ‘red-tape’ and bureaucracy not envisaged by the legislature with consequent increases in costs for Irish businesses.”