Mr. Martin Sisk:

I am very pleased to appear before the committee to discuss my proposed appointment as chairperson of the board of the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority, IAASA, by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Mary Mitchell O’Connor. I believe that my substantial range of regulatory, legal, financial, insurance and general business experience equips me for the challenge of acting as chairperson of IAASA. The committee will see from my curriculum vitae that my regulatory experience extends over a period of 25 years both as Registrar of Friendly Societies for 18 and a half years and as a senior official in the Central Bank of Ireland for more than seven years. These positions involved the regulation of credit unions, co-operatives, friendly societies, trade unions and building societies. I was the last registrar of building societies. Those positions also involved consumer protection enforcement as well as anti-money laundering, terrorist finance and financial sanctions enforcement. I attended the international meetings of the financial action task force, FATF, in that regard on behalf of the Central Bank. My past experience as a board member of various entities and, indeed, my current experience as a board member will be invaluable to me in chairing IAASA.

I refer in particular to my role as chairman of VHI Healthcare for a period of almost three years. I served as chairman at a critical juncture in VHI Healthcare’s history. The company was obliged as a result of a judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union to apply to the Central Bank for authorisation to act as a fully regulated insurance company. To do so, VHI Healthcare would have required a capital injection from the Government of approximately €300 million as well as other significant changes, both structural and otherwise. Under my chairmanship, a radical five-year strategic plan was developed and implemented, significant cost savings were achieved both internally and externally and successful reinsurance arrangements were entered into with the international reinsurance company, Berkshire Hathaway.

The net result of these and other measures was that VHI Healthcare managed to generate the necessary capital required, without Government assistance, and after a complex process, authorisation by the Central Bank was achieved.

I believe that the experience I have demonstrated, more details of which are to be found in my curriculum vitae, makes me a suitable and capable person to act as chairman of the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority, IAASA. The functions of IAASA, as an independent body responsible for ensuring the quality of auditing of public interest entities, supervising the regulatory functions of the prescribed accountancy bodies, and examining and enforcing listed entities’ periodic financial reporting, are important in assuring the citizens of this country that auditing and accounting continue to be of the highest standards.

I have already assured the Minister, and I wish to assure the Chairman and her fellow committee members, that this position will receive committed and intense engagement on my part. I would be very happy to answer any questions or address any issues that the Chairman or any of the members of the committee wish to raise.