Politicians’ consumer role queried

THE ability of politicians to act in the interests of the consumer was fundamentally questioned yesterday.

Pointing the finger at the politicos was Jonathan Westrup of Boston University.

Mr Westrup was addressing the Centenary Lecture of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in Dublin.

Top politicians, business people and civil servants were present. Other speakers included Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority chief executive Liam O'Reilly.

Mr Westrup is a former head of bonds and business development at NCB Stockbrokers.

"Accountability not only depended on regulators such as IFSRA and the Central Bank being held accountable, but also on those whose role was to oversee this accountability in this case the houses of the Oireachtas," he said.

"The problem is that the Oireachtas and its committees do not take this role seriously. In the case of IFSRA, for example, its chief executive has yet to be asked to appear before the Finance and Public Service Committee."

He dismissed the committee's level of research as "scanty," and the actual committee process as haphazard, with only a few TDs knowledgeable and interested in the process.

ACCA Ireland president Anthony Harbinson noted that ACCA has campaigned for greater transparency in the way in which organisations are governed and takes the view that accounting and financial scandals can happen anywhere in the world.