At 9 p.m. this evening the Government will vote down a Bill that could save thousands of companies and tens of thousands of jobs. The Bill would do so without the need to spend a single penny in public money. Every year hundreds of companies in Ireland are shut down that do not need to be because we do not have a functioning examinership process. This is how badly it is broken.

In the past three years, 4,700 companies have declared insolvency in Ireland and of them only 64 have availed of the examinership process. Many of those companies could have been saved and in other countries they would have been; here, they are instead forced into liquidation and all jobs are lost. I have an estimate from somebody who works in examinerships that approximately a quarter of insolvencies could be brought through a proper insolvency process. That means that over the past three years, well over 1,000 viable Irish companies have shut down because they do not have recourse to examinership that is fit for purpose.

The Companies (Amendment) Bill 2014 makes examinership a real option for struggling companies. It makes it cheaper and faster and it cuts legal fees for the examiner by approximately €50,000 while maintaining judicial oversight and authority. The main concern raised last night by the Minister, Deputy Bruton, and several Fine Gael backbenchers is the belief that this Bill would place an unfair burden on creditors. They were speaking in particular about smaller unsecured creditors like suppliers. The Bill would do no such thing. Under the current examinership process, creditors do not often go to court, and if they do, they must choose to go, hire lawyers and pay for them. With this Bill creditors can go to court any time they want and again they would have to hire and pay lawyers. They would go for the same reasons they do now. What would change with this Bill is that the examiner would not have to keep going to court for largely procedural and unnecessary reasons. He or she would not have to keep hiring lawyers. This would leave more money in the company which, critically, would leave more money for creditors.

Companies all over Ireland are screaming for a viable examinership process, which this Bill provides. Creditors want this Bill to pass because it would leave more money in the company and therefore more money for them. The Small Firms Association, which represents companies which would go through examinership and their suppliers, wants this Bill to pass. The only group that does not want the Bill to pass is this Government. Why is that?

Hear, hear.

The Deputy is wrong. The change in the way we do politics here allows Deputy Donnelly to bring in a Private Members' Bill, which is good-----

It was always there.

That was always the case.

-----as these issues must be discussed and commented upon. It is the Deputy's right. The Deputy had discussions with the Minister, Deputy Bruton, about the Bill and what the Government is doing with this. The Bill does not do what the Deputy says and it is legally unsound and potentially damaging to other creditors.

Who said that? Was it the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter?

The Government will not accept the Bill on that basis. The Government has already changed the rules to allow for small and medium enterprises to go to the Circuit Court-----

Did the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, say that?

-----and not have the costs of the High Court to deal with.

The Government has extended the remit of the Cabinet committee dealing with small and medium enterprises to cover this area also. With regard to the targets and objectives set by the Government for the banks, the evidence now shows that, by the end of this year, the vast majority of small and medium enterprises that have been suffering overhang from the boom will be back in good shape by the end of the year. It is for that reason and because Deputy Donnelly was spoken to courteously by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation that the Government is not accepting his Bill. We regard it as legally unsound and unsure, and unfair to other creditors.

I have had it reviewed by senior counsel and I would love to see the legal advice that claims it is legally unsound. The Bill is not unsound. If there are aspects of it that need to change - undoubtedly there are because we do not have access to the Office of the Attorney General - that is what the legislative process is for.

It must be incredibly frustrating for the owners of businesses that are insolvent and could be rescued to hear this kind of talk. As we know, the SME sector employs seven out of every ten people in the country. According to the Central Bank, approximately half of the loans currently outstanding in the SME sector, amounting to €25 billion, are in trouble. We know from the ECB that it is harder for small firms in Ireland to gain access to credit than it is for such firms in most of the rest of the eurozone. This means that, in the coming weeks, months and years, many more viable Irish companies that are insolvent, largely owing to legacy debt issues, will go to the wall. They do not have to but the Government is sitting on its hands.

My Bill is not a stab in the dark; it was compiled with the help of a solicitor, Mr. Barry Lyons, who has handled over half of the examinerships in the country. It is not based on wishful thinking and there is legal opinion on how sound it is. The Bill could easily be accepted by the Government this evening and changed, as required, by the Minister and the committee. Several members of the Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation said last night in the Chamber that they want the Bill to proceed beyond Second Stage. They want to get their teeth into it. The Taoiseach can wait for another report and set up an interdepartmental committee to see what happens but he should note that every single week we wait for a different version of the Bill to come through, viable companies and jobs will be lost. The alternative for the Taoiseach is to seize the opportunity, exploit the momentum, use my Bill as a structure and amend it as required. Why, if creditors, businesses and examiners are all saying we need this legislation to save jobs, will the Taoiseach not use the Bill as a template, allow it to pass this evening and change it as needed to prevent businesses that do not need to shut down from doing so?

Hear, hear.

It is a great idea that Deputies can bring forward Private Members' Bills. Deputy Donnelly was in conversation with the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in this case. He could have said he understands the Government's point of view and is willing to change his Bill to accommodate the direction of the Government. He was not prepared to do so.

I have already done so.

He is not prepared to do that. It is all very well for the Deputy to come into the House and say this is his Bill and this is how he wants it to be.

He just stated the opposite.

He is not prepared to work with the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in this case. He has the opportunity to put his name to the Bill but it is not going to go through because, as far as the Government is concerned, it is legally unsound and unfair to other creditors. It is not true to say another interdepartmental group is being set up. We already have a specific Cabinet committee dealing with small and medium enterprises and banks. The objectives set for the banks are being achieved.

No, they are not.

By the end of this year, we expect that the vast majority of businesses that were in trouble since the days of a previous Administration will be in good shape.

The CLRG, whose recommendations we are implementing, represented all the business interests involved. Therefore, the position is not as Deputy Donnelly states. The next time he introduces a Private Members' Bill, I will welcome it. If he is prepared to engage with the Government on amending his Bill to deal with what we want to deal with, circumstances will be different from those that now obtain.

He just said he was.

The Government has set targets for the pillar banks in respect of SME credit access. We are working through the Department of Finance with the German credit bank KfW to realise possibilities. There is an increasing trend involving corporates acquiring commercial banking licences to lend, at appropriate rates, to firms that use their own technology and equipment.

Of course, the SME sector is critical to the development of the country. That is why we have made an absolute Government priority of focusing on jobs this year. That is why, for 20 months in a row, the number on the live register has begun to fall. This is why, for the first time in several years, there is increasing confidence in the SME sector regarding where the future lies. That future lies in job creation, increased exports, and being lean and competitive. Access to credit is part of this. If the Deputy had been prepared to change his Bill to accommodate where we want to be, he would probably get a different answer.

It is not a case of just turning down Deputy Donnelly's Bill; it is legally unsound and unfair to other creditors.