Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendments Nos. 3a, 3dand 5ahave been developed following consultation with the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General and my officials.The general policy intent is that, post vesting, the IAA will be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General and AirNav Ireland will be audited by a commercial statutory auditor.

Amendment No. 3ato section 60 amends section 17 of the Irish Aviation Authority Act 1993 by deleting subsection (2)(f), which provides for the appointment of a commercial statutory auditor to the IAA.

Amendment No. 3dintroduces a new section amending section 30 of the 1993 Act, which covers the accounts and audits of the IAA. The amendment specifies that the financial statements of the IAA will be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General. This amendment also removes the references to balance sheets, profit and loss accounts and cash flow statements in section 30 to reflect the changes in the naming of financial statements arising from financial reporting standards.

Sections 3 and 4 provide that, in limited circumstances, a subsidiary of the IAA can be audited by a commercial statutory audit firm rather than the Comptroller and Auditor General, subject to the approval of the Minister for Transport and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform following consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General. For clarity, the IAA will not, post vesting day, have any subsidiary. However, it will retain the power to establish such subsidiaries, subject to ministerial approval.

Amendment No. 5aamends section 113 to reduce from 12 months to three the time in which the IAA must submit the final accounts of the Commission for Aviation Regulation to the Comptroller and Auditor General after the dissolution of the commission.

I intend to table an amendment on Report Stage to amend section 29 in respect of the accounts and audit of AirNav Ireland to reflect the changes to the naming of financial statements arising from financial reporting standards.