Minister writes to companies on examinership that 'offers hope for small firms to start again'

The new process can be completed more quickly and without the involvement of courts, said Robert Troy

Junior enterprise minister Robert Troy: Scarp examinership 'offers hope for sustainable businesses to start again'.  Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Robert Troy, minister of state at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, is writing to 208,000 companies on the Companies Registration Office (CRO) to publicise a new process for examinership that could immediately help small firms such as hospitality and retail hit hard by the 20 months of the Covid crisis.

It comes as the new process that Mr Troy helped to navigate through the Oireachtas for small and micro firms gets underway on Wednesday.

The Small Company Administrative Rescue Process, or Scarp, is designed to help small firms struggling to meet the demands of their creditors, but without automatically involving potentially lengthy and costly examinership under the current courts-led process.  

Consultation

Firms with fewer than 50 staff and annual sales of less than €12m can avail of the new Scarp process. It was brought in following consultation with business groups and trade unions.   

"It offers hope for sustainable businesses to start again," Mr Troy told the Irish Examiner.    

The new process can be completed more quickly and without the involvement of courts, he said. 

"We are going to have an extensive campaign. I will be writing to all companies registered on the CRO and there is a dedicated website on the department's website," he said.  

People can still still go to the courts if they are unhappy following their participation in the Scarp. 

Mr Troy said that it was too early to say what the full economic fallout from the Omicron variant will be.