Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his words, but the accountancy bodies remain concerned. They are particularly unhappy at the fact that somebody who has been expelled from the accountancy bodies for "misbehaviour" and has been found to be a criminal will now be able to go back into the profession and continue to act as an accountant. That is a dangerous situation. I do not like it being left to persist any longer. The Companies Bill gives us an ideal opportunity to get it resolved. I am sorry to see the amendment being put on the long finger. I urge the Minister to resolve this matter in this Bill rather than leave it to a later Bill.
Amendment No. 180 relates to section 1430 and is about restricting the number of partners in a partnership to 20. It is on a similar theme to that of the previous amendment. In particular, there is a problem with subsection (1)(c), which aims to give some relief to accountancy firms constituted as partnerships. However, this relief will be ineffective, as the Bill refers only to "statutory auditor". In the modern day, individuals in accountancy firms cover a wide range of areas and many of them have on board what I call "non-audit specialists" - for instance, taxation or financial analysts. A partnership will often cover people who do not have an audit background or who do not hold a professional accountancy qualification. With the Bill as it stands, some accountancy firms may not be able to avail of the relief on offer in section 1430, which may be seen as unfair. We should aim at a level playing field.

Some accountancy firms may even have to engage in more red tape and bureaucracy to get their affairs in order at great administrative cost for no concrete benefit. It is a clear case of "less is more", and that is why I propose to delete the part of the Bill that stipulates all partners should be limited to a partnership of 20. It is worthy of consideration.