Dr. Bridget Carroll:

As we discussed, the audit requirement can be costly and it can be an administrative burden but there are clear benefits to having audited accounts in regard to transparency and trust and also in assessing elements of performance of the co-operative. Retaining the requirement for annual returns and audited accounts while allowing specific societies to apply an audit exemption, and coming up with a formula as to how often that needs to be done, would be a sensible approach.