Members of the new regulatory authority for the financial services sector should have the power of authorised officers, the Irish Brokers' Association (IBA) has said.

A Government-appointed implementation group, chaired by barrister Mr Michael McDowell, is currently looking at the issue of how a single regulator for the sector will operate. The call for the increased powers is included in the IBA's submission to the implementation group.

The IBA said certain appointed members of the new authority should have powers similar to authorised officers as "this is the way to give consumers confidence in the new structures". Authorised officers have wide-ranging powers and can examine books and interview officers of a company.

The IBA called for consumer representation on the board of the new body and said all individuals or companies offering financial services should be subject to its regulation.

Mr Paul Carty, chief executive, said the association had no "hard views" on whether the Central Bank should become the new regulatory authority. However, he said it was logical that staff for the new body would come from the Central Bank.

The submission said the new authority should have a main board and several "sub boards" which would deal with each segment of the financial services sector.

However, Mr Carty said while the IBA wanted the authority to have "enormous" powers, "business still has to get on with its job".

He added that one danger in making the legislation "too prescriptive" was that costs could be passed onto the products offered to the public.

Meanwhile, the association has called for the mandatory introduction of employers liability insurance. It said Irish employers are not legally obliged to protect their employees from injuries that take place in the workplace.

The association said the Republic is one of only four EU states which does not have the mandatory requirement.