Ex-Deloitte & Touche man to chair NPRF

A FORMER head of accountants Deloitte & Touche has been appointed to chair the €14.5 billion National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF).

Paul Carty, now a financial consultant, fills the gap at the head of the NPRF Commission created by the death of Donal Geaney.

The appointment, which was announced yesterday by Finance Minister Brian Cowen, will last for five years.

Mr Carty was appointed an ordinary member of the NPRF Commission in August. He was a member of the National Treasury Management Agency Advisory Committee from its inception until 2005.

He has given evidence to both the McCracken and Moriarty tribunals of inquiry over various matters, including issues relating to the former Taoiseach Charles Haughey and his time as a director of Celtic Helicopters, a company run by Mr Haughey's son Ciaran.

Following the report of the McCracken Tribunal, which was set up in 1997 to examine payments from Dunnes Stores, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI) set up a special committee to examine the conduct of Deloitte, Mr Carty and another firm of accountants.

The committee looked at the objectivity of Deloitte & Touche in carrying out audits of the holding company of the Dunnes Stores group and certain of its subsidiaries over a period of several years up to 1997, and the carrying out of the audit of Celtic Helicopters.

The findings of the inquiry, headed by former Supreme Court judge John Blayney, were appealed by Mr Carty and both firms.

Mr Carty's appeal was upheld and he remains a member of the ICAI and is also a member of the Institute of Taxation in Ireland the Institute of Directors.

Mr Carty, who is 65 and lives in Dublin, started his career with Haughey Boland accountants before the firm was taken over by Deloitte.

The NPRF was set up to meet the cost of social welfare and public service pensions from 2020 onward. Each year the Government investments the equivalent of 1% of gross domestic product in it.