Restriction of former directors of company in liquidation

Applications are brought on behalf of the joint liquidators of the company in Liquidation ("the company") for declarations that the respondents shall not act as directors or secretaries or be concerned in the promotion or formation of any company unless that company meets the requirements of s.150(3) of the Companies Act 1990 (the equivalent section in the Companies Act 2014 being s.819(3)) - applicants ("the liquidators") were appointed as provisional liquidators of the company in August, 2012, and were subsequently appointed joint liquidators - respondents were required by this Court to declare a statement of affairs by order of October, 2012 - respondents were directors of the company - the company since the commencement of the winding up was unable to pay its debts - the Director of Corporate Enforcement did not relieve the liquidators from their obligation to seek the declarations sought after the liquidators had expressed concerns about the conduct of the affairs of the company - PAYE and PRSI liabilities of the company were the subject of incorrect filings made on behalf of the company for the year ending in 2011 - first named respondent negotiated with the Revenue Commissioners an arrangement which led to an agreement for the company's liability amounting to €796,642.08 to be paid over a period of nine months commencing on the 31st May, 2012 - in August 2012 the Revenue Commissioners issued an attachment order to the company's bank for €151,000 which resulted in the company having insufficient funds to pay staff wages on the 24th August, 2012 - respondents bear the burden of proving that they have acted responsibly and honestly - at the end of 2011 a financial institution gave notice it was withdrawing its invoice discounting arrangements for the company - one invoice discounting company maintained discounting for the company - this invoice discounting company obtained a charge over the book debts of the company - this invoice discounting company obtained a charge over the family home of the respondents which was later sold - the Court was left wondering how the company estimated book debts of €5,873,000.00 on the date of appointment of the joint liquidators while the inovice discounting company then found that €2,596,000.00 was uncollectible - the enormity of the uncollectible balance of some €2.5 million in debts raised the prospect of irresponsible behaviour on the part of the respondents and begged the question about how long the company was trading while insolvent - none of the respondents have given satisfactory explanations to these questions - incorrect PAYE and PRSI returns for the company in 2011 were not explained by the respondents - duty remains on directors to satisfy the Court that they acted responsibly - respondents have failed to satisfy the Court that they had in place reasonable measures to identify and secure the vehicles of the company - Court makes declarations sought.