Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose
Author:
Brian Walsh
I recall Robin Donovan, who had a long and distinguished career as Secretary of the Institute, saying on his retirement that "merger" was on the agenda for his first meeting of Council, and it was on the agenda again for his last meeting about thirty years later! I feel much the same way.
When I joined the staff of the Institute back in 1984, it was an upbeat time. The Centre of Accounting Studies had been established, the Final Admitting Exam (FAE) had been introduced on an open book basis, and plans were in place to introduce mandatory practice review. Internationally, we were seen as leading the way in the areas of education and regulation. A move from Fitzwilliam Place to new offices in Pembroke Road was about to get under way and we were looking forward to the 1988 celebrations of the Institute's first centenary. We were also working, through a Cooperation Committee with our sister Institutes in England & Wales and Scotland, on the promotion and advancement of the Chartered Accountant qualification.
But then came the 1990s, and the first of a series of glitches, in the form of the Beef Tribunal which issued its report in July 1994. While, in my view, the Institute carried out as thorough an investigation as we could with the limited powers we had at that time, we nevertheless failed to meet the expectations of politicians, the media, and many of our own members. That shook Government's confidence in our ability to regulate and led to the Tanaiste insisting on having observer status at the hearings of our Committee of Inquiry on the McCracken Report.
I am glad to say that significant progress has been made, particularly in the last few years, in regaining the trust of Government and the public. At our request, Government gave us statutory powers in the Companies (Auditing & Accounting) Act 2003 to discover documents and compel witnesses who were not necessarily our members. Our Bye-laws have been amended to allow us to carry out our work in a more transparent, efficient and effective manner, and these amendments have been approved by members and Government in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. A strong indication of this regaining of trust is that almost all of our proposals for amendments to the Companies (Auditing & Accounting) Act 2003 were accepted.
But I would be the first to admit that all of this has been achieved at a cost. Regulation, in one form or another, has dominated the Council agenda for the past ten years. As a result, we have lost our leading edge in education and training, and our relationship with members has suffered. Council is well aware of this and has established a Strategic Review Group as the first step in addressing it.
Like Robin Donovan, I too saw the merger question come around more than once in my twenty years. At the last Council meeting I attended, the imminent premises move from CA House was on the agenda along with plans for a campaign to market the Chartered Accountant brand. Certainly themes recur and any progressive organisation must continue to reinvent itself. But while we welcome change, we acknowledge also a constancy in our fundamental concerns - the image we portray and the protection of our brand.
I believe that, like in 1984, the future is bright. The Institute is in very good financial health and strategies will soon be in place to put us back at the leading edge of in the areas that matter most - education, membership representation, and the provision of relevant services. We are perhaps better equipped than ever before to meet the challenges ahead.
When I joined the Institute, I thought I would be back in practice again within about two years. But there were always new challenges to keep the job interesting and I have enjoyed it all ( well, almost all ! ). It certainly never got boring. In particular, it has been a privilege to have been Chief Executive for the past six years and the support I have received from successive Presidents, Councils and Institute staff has been nothing short of fantastic.
I wish my successor, Pat Costello, every success.
Brian Walsh, FCA
Chief Executive.
Accountancy Ireland, Vol 36, No 4, August 2004.