Publication of the long-awaited report of the Blayney committee into possible professional misconduct by members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI) named in the McCracken tribunal report has been delayed because of appeals against the findings.
In a statement issued yesterday, the ICAI expressed disappointment "at this further delay in bringing this work to a conclusion". Confirming that the report was completed, the ICAI said that "the findings of the Blayney report have been appealed by the members and member-firms involved". The Blayney committee was set up in September 1997 to inquire into the professional or business conduct of certain ICAI members and firms arising out of the McCracken report into payments from Dunnes Stores. In its statement, the ICAI insisted that the delay would not deflect it from "reaching a conclusion to the process and imposing sanctions for any breaches of the institute's regulations and code of conduct found to have occurred".
It said its regulations prohibited publication of the report until the appeal was over. Chief executive Mr Brian Walsh said the ICAI was determined to make the findings public at the earliest possible time.
Mr Walsh said that the institute's 29-member council would meet the week after next to appoint a three-member appeal committee, which would be chaired by a lawyer.
While he described the appeals procedure as "new territory" for the institute, he said he was hopeful it would not take too long to conclude.
In April 1999, the ICAI published an interim statement of the committee of inquiry which stated that "following investigations and hearings, parties had been informed that a prima-facie case had been established by the committee".
The final report of the committee has been delayed by legal challenges and appeals, as well as by a period when the committee decided to await some of the deliberations of the Moriarty tribunal, which could have had implications for its findings. The Moriarty tribunal is inquiring into the finances of former Taoiseach, Mr Charles Haughey, and the former Fine Gael minister, Mr Michael Lowry.
Accountants and ICAI members Oliver Freaney and Co and Deloitte and Touche were joint auditors to Dunnes Stores and were represented before the McCracken tribunal. Accountant and ICAI member Mr Noel Fox, a partner at Oliver Freaney and Co, who is also a Dunnes Stores trustee, was an adviser to Mr Ben Dunne.
Oliver Freaney and Co were auditors to Garuda, the company owned by Mr Lowry. Deloitte & Touche looked after Mr Haughey's financial affairs. Mr Haughey is an honorary member of the ICAI. In December 1997, the Blayney committee rejected a challenge to its procedures brought by Oliver Freaney and Co. In March 1998, oral hearings started. But in May 1998, Oliver Freaney and Co and Mr Fox applied to the High Court for an order quashing the prima-facie findings of the committee and prohibiting the committee from "taking any further steps to consider or determine the charges or complaints laid against the applicants".
The case was struck out before it came to court but it delayed the inquiry for eight months. The committee has had 27 days of formal hearings and met on 39 additional occasions. The costs so far of the inquiry have been over £750,000, according to the ICAI. The ICAI committee is chaired by former Supreme Court judge, Mr Justice John Blayney, and the members are actuary Mr Brian Duncan and accountant Mr Paddy Shorthall.
