Mr. Brendan Lenihan:

Under the law as it stands, it is open to anybody to trade as an accountant. A change would only apply from the date on which it is introduced. At that stage, the decision is open to the individual concerned to re-term him or herself as something else, such as business adviser, financial manager or bookkeeper, which would be a more accurate description, and not hold him or herself out as having not only the competency and qualifications but the facilities, such as professional indemnity insurance, which members of bodies can typically access when they offer services to the public. I suspect there would be problems in making the requirement retrospective, but it is important from here on in that we clearly identify those individuals who are supervised by the State supervisory authority and those who are not.