asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he is satisfied that the company law applicable to Northern Ireland does not allow companies operating in Great Britain to avoid provisions of the Companies Acts as applicable to England, Scotland and Wales.

The Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 brought the Northern Ireland companies legislation virtually into line with that operating in Great Britain. So far about half of the provisions have been brought into operation by commencement orders, but two parts of the order, and some individual related articles are still to be brought into effect. They deal with:

(i) the winding-up of companies and the introduction of an official assignee service for company liquidation, and

(ii) the accounting and audit provisions.

Work is progressing on the necessary subordinate legislation, rules, forms and instructions which are a prerequisite to bringing the winding-up provisions into operation, but it is considered inappropriate to implement the accounting and audit provisions until the results of consultations on the proposals contained in the "Consultative Document on Company Accounting and Disclosure" (Cmnd 7654) have been considered.