andMr. McQuillan asked the Minister for Finance (1) the statutory provisions in relation to (a) Irish Estates Limited and (b) the Irish Life Assurance Company Limited under which the accounts of the companies were audited by an officer of the Comptroller and Auditor General, (2) the statutory provisions under which a private firm of auditors and accountants was appointed to examine and approve the accounts of the companies, (3) the name of the person or body responsible for the appointment of such private firm, (4) the funds out of which the fees payable to such private firms have been or will be paid, and (5) the reasons why it was decided to alter the practice by which the audit in respect of these companies was carried out by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Audit of Companies' Accounts.
While the Comptroller and Auditor General has acted as auditor for the Irish Life Assurance Co. Limited, I understand that he has never so acted for Irish Estates Limited.
There are no statutory provisions relating specifically to the auditing of these two companies. Every company registered under the Companies Act is obliged under Section 112 of the Companies (Consolidation) Act, 1908, to appoint an auditor at each annual general meeting to hold office until the next annual general meeting. The auditors of the two companies referred to are, therefore, appointed annually by the companies themselves which pay the audit fees. A change of auditor is a matter entirely for a company itself.
Is it not a fact that the auditor for the parent company up to 1959 was the Comptroller and Auditor General? Up to that date, a private company acted as auditors for Irish Estates Limited. Would the Minister now state why the Comptroller and Auditor General disappeared as auditor in 1959 and the private auditors for Irish Estates Ltd. moved in as auditors for the parent company? Would the Minister explain to the House why, as a major shareholder, he has no knowledge of why that took place?
As a major shareholder, I agreed to it at the time. It was put to me that the Irish Assurance Company was regarded by the people generally as a Government institution and the fact that the Comptroller and Auditor General made the audit lent a great deal of weight to that. They wanted to get away from that.
Surely the Minister's reply would appear to cast doubts on the weight the public would give to the Comptroller and Auditor General acting as auditor? In view of the fact that he is auditor of many other State and semi-State concerns, the Minister will agree there is no apparent reason why this significant change took place in 1959?
The other companies concerned may not have the same degree of competition in their dealings with the public. I may say the Irish Assurance Company some years before that changed from the auditor they had to the Comptroller and Auditor General. They did so of their own volition.