Merger talks between two of Ireland's accountancy bodies have been terminated after soundings among members indicated that proposals to unify their organisations would be defeated. Dominic Coyle reports.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI), which numbers 13,500 members, and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland (CPA), which has about 2,500 on its books, have agreed to continue co-operation "in areas of mutual interest".
The ICAI and the CPA have discussed a merger several times in recent years.
A steering group comprising members from both institutes has been examining the issues since November 2002.
At that time, they said that "a merger between the bodies would be beneficial to the members of both bodies and the profession in Ireland".
Mr Daragh Solan, vice-president of the CPA, said last night that both groups had concluded that they could not muster enough support for the proposal within either body.
A merger would have required the approval of two-thirds of the members of the ICAI and three-quarters of the CPA.
Mr Solan said the view of ICAI and CPA members was that they could achieve a lot of the benefits of a merger while still retaining their individual identities.
Mr Terence O'Rourke, deputy president of the ICAI, said: "There is a lot of pride in each brand among the respective members and, while we in the steering group might see synergies and we're looking for the best way to improve efficiency, members felt they wanted to retain their groups' identities."
Merger talks have been driven by several factors, not least the financial savings possible by the creation of one organisation representing accountants.
This would be particularly attractive to the ICAI which has seen a series of inquiries place considerable strain on its finances, though Mr O'Rourke said these had been addressed by members last year.
The increasing demand of regulation and oversight and the advantages of a single lobby group carrying more clout with the Government were other factors driving the process.
There is also some concern about the growing presence of the British-based Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), which claims around 10,000 members in Ireland.
