James Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Good. Much of what was referred to a few moments ago is still problematic in the city. There is an expert sitting behind us. That is very much a fact. The other issue I wanted to briefly address was raised by Senator Mac Lochlainn, namely, auditors and the value of an audit. The ordinary man on the street sees companies like Enron, Anglo Irish Bank, and so many others. The big four firms go around the world, sticking their chests out, auditing and charging big fat fees for it. What does it actually mean? The witnesses mentioned the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority, IAASA. Mr. O'Mahony is on its board. Is he saying that is the body we should invite in to discuss this issue with us? I would be very happy to do that, and do a service to the public and perhaps a service to IAASA. I would like to highlight and explain to people what auditors do and what they do not do. People put a misplaced trust in an audit and in audited accounts, as Senator Mac Lochlainn said. Audited accounts only look backwards and cannot predict with any certainty what is going to happen in the future. That is fair enough. Nobody can do that. However, surely they should have picked up much of what was going on in Enron for quite some time.