Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Morris for his presentation. I see the sense of the provisions to change auditors every five years and I understand the key partner requirement. Knowing how a company works, just moving a key partner means there is still a familiarity and it is not sufficiently robust. However, I appreciate we are discussing a different group of institutions.

Mr. Morris mentioned there would be a cost factor in appointing a new audit firm, which could be significantly higher for some of the smaller credit unions. How would this come about? Is it that when a credit union stays with a certain firm, it has built up a relationship and is getting the service cheaper? Can Mr. Morris quantify his assertion?

How would the requirement to change the company, as distinct from the key partner at present, every five years impact on the availability of audit firms for smaller rural credit unions? I am sure it is not a problem in the capital city, but is there an issue in, for example, west County Cork or County Donegal? Are there sufficient audit companies in those areas to deal with the demand?

Is the organisation Mr. Morris represents a group of auditors?