Tuesday, 3rd January, 2006: The statutory Board of the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA) held its first meeting today in Dublin. Speaking to mark the occasion, IAASA’s Chairperson, Ms. Karen Erwin, said:
I am delighted to see the coming to fruition of the statutory establishment of IAASA. Bringing the Authority to this point has been a complex exercise and has involved an enormous amount of preparatory work. In that context, special thanks is due both to Minister Ahern and to my colleagues on the Interim Board for their support, commitment and effort in bringing the Authority to this point.
The Authority’s statutory establishment comes at a time when the European Union has recently agreed legislation providing for, inter alia, the establishment of independent auditor oversight systems in all member States. While member States are not required to give effect to this legislation until early 2008, the establishment of the Authority on a statutory basis at this time means that Ireland is well placed from the outset to make its contribution to the EU wide objective of enhancing public confidence in financial reporting and in the audit process.
The Authority has now entered a new phase and I, and my Board colleagues, look forward to building on the considerable work that has already been done and to discharging our statutory mandate, thereby providing an independent source of assurance to the public that heretofore has not existed and to contributing to Ireland’s reputation as a low risk economy.
At its first meeting, the Board appointed Mr. Ian Drennan as the Authority’s Chief Executive. Mr. Drennan had previously been acting as the Interim Authority’s Chief Executive (Designate).