Results 1,261-1,280 of 1,683 for speaker:Derek McDowell

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: That is what I wanted to know. Question put and agreed to. SECTION 9. Question proposed: "That section 9 stand part of the Bill."

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: The question of what exactly is meant by the word, "standards" has been causing some grief to the accountancy bodies. It is used in section 9(2)(f) which lists one of the functions of the supervisory authority as "to undertake under section 24 investigations into possible breaches of the standards of a prescribed accountancy body". It is later defined as ethics, codes of conduct and so on....

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: Is that because of the extra director?We can push this a little far at times, Sir.

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: This section sets out the funding mechanism for the authority, 40% of which will be paid for by the State through a grant from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the remainder apportioned by the supervisory authorities between the various prescribed bodies. I am not clear as to the distinction between that and the reserve fund. There seems to be a distinction between what...

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: Perhaps my confusion arises out of the fact that I do not totally understand the distinction between section 23 and section 24. No doubt we will come to that in due course. Since the funding mechanism is linked to it maybe the Minister of State could help me at this stage. As I read it, section 23 allows the supervisory authority to determine whether the appropriate procedures have been...

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: I accept the clarification by Senator O'Toole. It is sensible. I am not sure that, on the face of it, the Bill is clear in this area. Section 24 requires that there should be a public interest element in it. It also says that on its own initiative or following a complaint from just about anybody, the supervisory authority can undertake an investigation into the work of a member of an...

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: Not section 23. The normal review of the mechanisms will be—

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: And the annual budget? The same sum or a bit more?

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: The memo says something about the Department providing a figure such as €600,000. That was the estimate.

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: I always think it is a good idea to allow bodies that are set up on a statutory basis to retain any money they have left over. To provide for a clawback, saying in effect that money not spent in one year will be taken back by the Department of Finance the following year, is inviting a body to spend money it does not need to spend. Question put and agreed to. SECTION 17. Government amendment...

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: This is a point about which the accountancy bodies are agitated. I understand their point as I referred to it some minutes ago. We may unwittingly leave the supervisory authority open to becoming a court of appeal, which is not intended. The intention, as I understand it, is that the authority should simply review the procedures to ensure they are properly dealt with. In practice, if somebody...

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: It would be possible to address the substance of the amendment.

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: The accountancy bodies are concerned with the definition of "the public interest" and with the discretion of the supervisory authority, which seems unlimited, to determine that it should carry out an investigation in the public interest. They are anxious that some effort should be made to spell out what the phrase means or at least to include an objective test; in other words, to require that...

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: Is there any reason in principle why we cannot set that out in a subsection of the Bill?

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: Can the Minister at least provide that the authority would consult with the prescribed bodies even if it does not say that it will refer to their disciplinary procedures? That is not too onerous.

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: I can conceive of circumstances where the authority might want to—

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: Why not? It would not kill the authority.

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: If the authority still has the power to investigate, requiring it to consult with the bodies in the first instance is hardly that onerous. It can simply ignore what they say. I cannot see that any harm would come from telling them that the authority is intending to pursue a particular investigation.

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: The subsection allows the supervisory authority, on its own initiative or following a complaint, to start an investigation without any requirement that there should a prior investigation by the accountancy bodies. There is not even a requirement for the authority, based on what it believes is in the public interest, to speak to the accountancy bodies in the first instance. I can understand...

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (28 May 2003)

Derek McDowell: It does not have to act reasonably; it merely has to determine what is in the public interest and proceed from there.