Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 13 June 2013

Public Accounts Committee

Special Report No. 72 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Financial Regulator (Resumed)

3:10 pm

Mr. Matthew Elderfield:

It is a very good question. I have a lot of sympathy with this concern and it is an area which the enforcement system, if I can call it that, comprising ourselves, the Garda and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, has not done so well. Perhaps the political and legal systems need to take stock. It is probably a narrow slice of this. This is our gatekeeping role and how many people do not get through? Perhaps it is 3%. If I remember correctly, the UK has a higher return rate, but it is pretty consistent with other countries in Europe. There is a weakness in the approach to white collar crime and accountability for individuals. Part of it is with regard to the capability and role of the enforcement agencies. Are we resourced and staffed up to pursue this? Part of it is the legal framework. I can do a stab in the dark analysis or diagnosis and I may not have it right. It makes sense for someone to step back, look at it very systematically, put the pieces together and make improvements. We have done enforcement well against firms but the system has not done enforcement well against individuals.

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