Mr Tom Courtney has been appointed chairman of the Company Law Review Group, the body which will have statutory control over company law reform from next year.

Mr Courtney, a solicitor, is head of legal services at ICS Building Society, author of a number of legal texts and editor of the journal Commercial Law Practitioner.

He will retain his post at ICS when he becomes chairman of the group.

Mr Courtney (34) was a member of the Working Group on Company Law Compliance which was chaired by former Progressive Democrat TD, Mr Michael McDowell SC, who was subsequently appointed Attorney General.

The establishment of the review group was a core recommendation of the McDowell group, which reported to the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, in November 1998.

Mr Courtney said a simplification of the company law code as it applied to small companies was likely to be one of the first issues to be addressed by the group. "This is a mammoth task," he said.

The review group will be established on an interim, non-statutory basis next month, before the enactment of the Company Law Enforcement Bill, which is expected to become law by the middle of next year.

Ms Harney is inviting a number of official bodies to put forward nominees to join the group, which will have about 18 members and operate to a two-year programme of work.

Mr Pat Nolan of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment will be secretary to the group.