Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Professor Eamonn Walsh, UCD, to discuss the regulatory and supervisory policies, systems and practices which may have underpinned the banking crisis in Ireland and, in particular, accountancy standards and auditing. Professor Eamonn Walsh is PwC professor of accounting at UCD. He has served as Dean of the Smurfit School of Business and chairman of the accounting department. Prior to joining UCD he held faculty positions at the London School of Economics and New York University. Appointments have included UC Berkeley and Peking University. A consultant to a number of leading European, US and Asian corporations, he has also completed assignments with governmental organisations, the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations. His primary research, teaching and consulting interests are in the areas of financial analysis, equity valuation and US security markets. A co-author of three books, his research has been published in Accounting Organisations and Society, the Journal of Business Finance and Accountingand the Journal of Accounting Auditing and Finance. He was the founding editor of European Accounting and served as associate editor of the Journal of Accounting Auditing and Finance. He was the inaugural recipient of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Excellence in Education Award and has been a presenter at the World Economic Forum.

I wish to advise the witness that by virtue of section 17(2)(l)of the Defamation Act 2009 witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to the committee. If witnesses are directed by the Chairman to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and they continue to do so, they are entitled thereafter only to a qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. Witnesses are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and, as the witness has been informed previously, the committee is asking witnesses to refrain from discussing named individuals in this phase of the inquiry. Members are reminded of the longstanding ruling of the Chair to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the House or an official by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable. I now invite Professor Walsh to make his opening statement to the inquiry.