Seanad debates
Wednesday, 16 April 2003
Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Second Stage.
During my term as Minister for Public Enterprise, I became very friendly with Patricia Hewitt, the Minister for Small Business and e-Commerce at the Department of Trade and Industry in the United Kingdom. She is now Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and she sent me a copy of an interesting discussion document on directors of companies in the aftermath of the Enron and other scandals in the United States. The Bill before us is very good in that it puts the responsibility squarely on the directors of companies, who in turn must say to their audit companies that this is what they stand over as being in good and fair practice and that the figures with which they have been presented are correct, or whatever is the correct terminology. This is important in the context of the furore that arose, and rightly so, over the DIRT scandal and its outcome. Directors deal with their companies on a daily basis and it is quite correct that there should be an increased onus of responsibility on them to say what they do, what they spend, how they run their business and submit correct accounts to their auditors. The double way in which we are effecting that shift in responsibility in the Bill is more appropriate than what is happening in the United Kingdom, where the authorities are going after the directors and not dealing, as yet, with the accountancy profession. We have managed to marry the two, which is a good development.
No comments