Mr. Brendan Lenihan:

Let me explain the structure. Currently, it is supervised self-regulation. Those firms are not unregulated or even self-regulated at their level. The big four firms are regulated by the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board, CARB, which is within our institute. The CARB does a fine job, but it is a different model than pertains elsewhere in the world. In other countries, the big four are supervised by a public regulator. This is the point that everyone, including Government policy, agrees we must reach. We are nearly there. Last week, there was a commitment to put the last legislative pieces in place. There is a practical commitment, which we will fund, on sorting out the administrative arrangements for getting people in place. I cannot underline enough how important it is for our international reputation and risk management that we reach the point of public sector regulation as quickly as possible. I am speaking not only for the profession, but for the firms and all stakeholders. Lest members believe that the firms are unregulated or self-regulated, they are regulated by their professional bodies, and thoroughly at that, but the structure is wrong. We have all agreed that it needs to change and will change.