Ifsra chief executive Liam O'Reilly is planning to retire next year, before his term of office expires.

Mr O'Reilly informed the Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, of his decision to leave the financial regulator on Thursday.

He will not be at retiring age when he steps back from the role but will have worked in the public service for 40 years.

A spokesman for Ifsra said last night that it had always been Mr O'Reilly's intention to retire when he had completed four decades of service.

He will be 59 when he steps down from the authority.

Mr O'Reilly was appointed as interim chief executive of the newly formed Ifsra at the end of 2002, having worked at the Central Bank since 1967.

His appointment was formalised in March 2003.

At that stage, a five-year term of office began, but this will not now be completed.

No firm date has yet been given for Mr O'Reilly's departure from Ifsra, although he is not expected to be in the job at the end of 2006.

The Minister of Finance can be expected to sanction a replacement at that stage. The succession competition is not expected to begin for some time yet.

Mr O'Reilly's tenure at Ifsra has coincided with a major shift in the public image of financial regulation in the Republic.

He has headed the regulator during a period of scandals in the financial sector, including a number of incidences of overcharging and tax evasion.

In contrast to its predecessor, Ifsra has made no secret of its desire to name and shame financial institutions that fall foul of the rules.

In an interview with this newspaper yesterday, Mr O'Reilly said that he was not sure that the State's financial institutions would ever have a perfect reputation.

He said he "would love" to work himself out of a job.

"If customers were fully informed and believed they were being dealt with honestly, I will have done my job and can ride off into the sunset," he said.