NEWS & PUBLICATIONS

John Fuller and Michelle Cross of our corporate department recently advised Trustap Limited in relation to a €5.1m Series A funding round. Trustap, headquartered in Cork, provides a digital transaction platform which aims to give buyers and sellers peace of mind by utilising an escrow style payment system.

For more information on the transaction, please see https://www.irishtimes.com/technology/2024/07/09/cork-payments-company-trustap-raises-51m-in-funding/

 

J.W. O’ Donovan Solicitors are looking to recruit a Junior Conveyancing Solicitor to join their busy property team due to continued expansion and in light of an impending office relocation to a spacious and modern premises on the South Mall.

The ideal candidate will:

• Be enthusiastic, conscientious and hard working with a willingness to learn and to build and maintain strong relationships with clients;
• Have excellent communication and interpersonal skills;
• Have the ability to work on their own initiative and collaboratively as part of a team;
• Have appropriate IT skills including use of case management systems etc.

Salary will be commensurate with experience. This is a great opportunity to join a dynamic team and to progress your career in a supportive and friendly environment.

If you wish to apply for this role, please email a CV and cover letter to: alinehan@jwod.ie

Our Partners, Anne-Marie Linehan, Cormac O`Hanlon, and Ciara McDonnell recently attended the ADVOC Annual Conference in Paris. Anne-Marie, Cormac and Ciara and were in attendance with more than 100 colleagues from over 30 countries. The event was hosted by our Parisian colleagues in CORNET VINCENT SEGUREL.

ADVOC, is an international network of independent law firms of which J.W. O’Donovan LLP is the sole Irish member. The network is presently made up of 92 firms, across 73 countries, with circa 5,500 lawyers within the group. For more information on ADVOC, please visit advoc.com.

We are delighted to announce that the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (“SVP”) has been chosen as our Charity of 2024. SVP, on a national scale, aims to alleviate poverty, advance education, and prevent homelessness and its negative consequences.

We have a number of events planned for the coming year and we would invite our clients and colleagues alike to assist in supporting this most worthwhile cause.

For more information on how you may also help, see https://www.svp.ie/ways-to-help/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

J.W. O’Donovan were delighted to attend the Southern Law Association’s Presidents Dinner, hosted by our own Partner, John Fuller. This most enjoyable event was held in the Maryborough House Hotel on Friday the 23^rd of February and offered attendees an opportunity to meet with colleagues and guests. We would like to wish John the very best for the remainder of his term as President.

Many will be familiar with the lifetime tax-free thresholds for Capital Acquisitions Tax (“CAT”) purposes that exist for gift and inheritance and the obligation to file returns with Revenue where gifts and inheritances are received. Since the 1^st of January 2024, there is a third situation in which an obligation to report to Revenue arises, albeit there may not be a liability. This third category is where a loan, or series of loans, are advanced between family members; namely one’s parents, civil partners, lineal ancestors or descendants or with specified family member’s companies.

Often, family members may assist each other, for example in the private financing of the purchase of a home by a child, at a more favourable interest rate (or no interest rate) than would otherwise be available in the mortgage market. Until the 1^st of January 2024, where such loans were made between family members there was no obligation to report same to Revenue.

With the commencement of Section 80 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2023, an obligation to report to Revenue has been created where loans between such parties have been advanced and the loan (or the aggregate of the loans) exceed €335,000 in the relevant calendar year. If there is a “free use” element to such a loan, a liability to account for same will likely arise. The “free use” element relates to any amount of the loan that is: –

• not subject to interest;
• is at a reduced interest rate; or
• in instances where no interest has in fact been paid.

Now, such loans must be reported to Revenue and where there is a “free use” element, the interest not charged/paid on this element will be taken to be a gift for the purposes of CAT. As the bar to report to Revenue (€335,000) is the same as one’s current Category A threshold, a liability will in all likelihood arise for any “free use” element.

Where parties are considering making such a loan(s) exceeding €335,000, they should consider the following: –

• agree an interest rate that is not so low that it may be regarded as a “free use” element;
• be mindful that the failure by the beneficiary to actually pay interest will likely result in the interest not charged/paid being accountable for CAT;
• enter into a formal loan agreement so that all parties (including Revenue) are aware of the terms of the loan.

Should you wish to discuss this topic more, please contact Colm Tobin, Associate Solicitor, of our Property Department by email at ctobin@jwod.ie

J.W. O’Donovan LLP were delighted to host a coffee morning on 26 October 2023 at our offices on the South Mall in aid of Cork ARC Cancer Support House. €2,500 was raised for such a deserving local charity. We wish to thank our colleagues and clients who supported the event.

We are pleased to have advised the shareholders of CHI, one of Ireland’s leading occupational health providers, on its sale to PAM Group, a major provider of occupational health, health screening and wellbeing services in the UK.

The JWOD team included John Fuller (Partner, Corporate), Jerome O’Sullivan (Partner, Commercial Property), Ray Shanahan (Partner, Corporate), and David Pearson (Partner, Employment).

For more information, click here

 

We are pleased to announce that our Partner, Anne-Marie Linehan, has been appointed to the Board of the Cork Chamber of Commerce. Anne-Marie has been an active member within the Chamber for many years and has always been an advocate for the wider Cork region. Anne-Marie aims to utilise her many years of advising commercial and private clients to benefit the Chamber and its members. We wish Anne Marie the very best in her new role.

The Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 (the “Act”) was signed in to law on the 4^th of April 2023.

The Act, transposes the EU Directive on work-life balance for parents and carers and introduces new rights for employees in Ireland striving to balance family life, work life and caring responsibilities.

The various elements of the Act will come in to effect in a staggered manner, with the introduction of leave for medical care purposes and extension of breastfeeding breaks to two years coming in to effect from 3^rd July 2023.

1. Parts Coming into effect from the 3^rd of July 2023

Extended Breastfeeding Rights: The Act will amend the Maternity Protection Act 1994 by increasing the breastfeeding facilitation period from 26 weeks following the birth of the child to a total of 104 weeks. In addition, the Act through the deletion of section 7(2) of the Maternity Protection Act 1994, allows transgender male employees who have given birth access to maternity leave.

Leave for Medical Care Purposes: The Act specifies an employee is entitled to unpaid leave of up to 5 days within a consecutive period of 12 months to care for someone in need of “significant care or support for a serious medical reason”. This includes a parent or grandparent, or a spouse or civil partner etc. The employee must inform their employer in writing as soon as reasonably practicable when the leave is to be taken, duration of leave, and of the facts entitling the employee to take leave. The leave may not be taken in periods of less than one day and crucially, there is no minimum service requirement for this leave.

This leave is in addition to Force Majeure Leave of 3 days leave in any 12 consecutive months, or 5 days in any 36 consecutive months. Absence for part of a day is counted as one day of force majeure leave. Force Majeure leave arises under the Parental Leave Act 1998.

2. Part intended to come into effect in the Autumn

Leave for Domestic Violence: The Act provides an additional type of leave, which will provide for 5 days in a 12-month period of paid leave. The employer is required to pay “domestic violence leave pay”, the rate is to be set by the Minister.  Ireland will be one of a very limited number of countries to offer paid domestic violence leave.

3. Remote Working & Flexible Working

The following provisions do not have a tentative deadline for enactment presently.  As the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has been tasked with creating a Code of Practice, the commencement of the following sections will depend on the publication of the Code of Practice by the WRC.

Remote working: The Act introduces a statutory right for employees to request approval from their employer for remote working. There are various requirements for this application to be done in accordance with the Act, for example, the application is to be done in writing, the commencement and duration of the arrangement specified, etc. The Act imposes an obligation on the employer to consider the request. If the request is denied, the employer is obligated to provide reasons for such a refusal.

Flexible working arrangements for caring purposes: Parents and carers will have the right to request flexible working.  Flexible working arrangements could include; working hours or patterns, and/or the use of remote working, and/or reduced working hours. Employers in receipt of such requests must consider the request in accordance with its needs and the employee’s needs and must provide reasons if refused.

Conclusion 

The Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 introduces welcome enhancements to the work-life balance of employees in Ireland.

The parts which come into effect as of the 3^rd of July, namely the extended breastfeeding rights and the leave for medical care purposes will be extremely beneficial to those who wish to avail of such enhancements.

Furthermore, by providing leave for domestic abuse victims/survivors, Ireland will be one of a limited number of countries affording such leave and is setting an example in Europe, come Autumn.

COVID-19 truly changed the landscape of employment in Ireland, with a notable shift to remote working for many. The choice of remote work has continued following the pandemic in many organisations. However, this Act, by way of introducing a statutory right to request remote working coupled with an obligation on employers to consider such requests, ensures consideration for employees whose organisation has requested employee presence in the workplace. The effect of such a right will have to be considered following the publication of the WRC’s Code of Practice.

For more information on this topic please contact Patricia Canty or David Pearson of our Employment Department on 021-7300200 or by email to pcanty@jwod.ie or dpearson@jwod.ie