Mr. Kevin Morris:

I will preface my remarks by noting that we are very supportive of the draft scheme. The commission on credit unions has come up with some excellent suggestions. However, our concerns arise in the area of audits, which is a small part of the overall scheme. Credit unions are co-operative, not-for-profit organisations.

They currently have a guidance note issued by the Financial Regulator which requires auditors to rotate in terms of the engagement partner only every five years. We feel that works very well at the moment. We believe the proposed mandatory firm rotation in the draft Bill is overstepping the mark.