The Office of Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) secured 20 convictions for company law offences, according to figures released this morning.
In addition, 430 companies and 30 directors were convicted by the Companies Registration Office (CRO) for company law offences.
The figures were published as part of the Official Companies Report for 2002.
Speaking at the publication of the report, the Minister for Trade and Commerce, Mr Ahern, said he was satisfied with the conclusions of the report, particularly the indications that most of the provisions of the Company Law Enforcement Act were now in operation.
In particular, he said, two provisions that had been very effective in stamping out financial irregularities in Irish companies.
The first entailed new obligations on auditors to report to the ODCE suspected indictable offences under the Companies Acts by companies and other parties.
The second involved new obligation on liquidators to report on the conduct of company directors.
The report, the 77th in the series, incorporates for the fifth time the Report of the Registrar of Companies. Also included are reports from the Director of Corporate Enforcement and the Company Law Review Group.