As a result of the introduction of the EU audit regulations in Ireland in June, IAASA has been named as the standard setter and audit regulator for the jurisdiction, replacing the FRC whihc had oversight of Ireland auditing framework in Ireland.  

Under the Regulations, IAASA is responsible for adopting ‘the auditing standards to be applied and statutory auditors and audit firms shall carry out statutory audits in accordance with those standards’.

Auditing standards in this instance includes ‘standards on professional ethics and internal quality control in addition to standards on auditing’.

In the interim, the IAASA is negotiating with the FRC in the UK to obtain a licence to use the existing UK and Ireland standards, and tailor the FRC audit framework as a temporary measure before the final audit standards framework is selected.

The EU (Statutory Audits) (Directive 2006/43/EC, as amended by Directive 2014/56/EU, And Regulation (EU) No 537/2014) Regulations 2016 (S.I. No. 312 of 2016) came into operation on the 17 June 2016.

The consultation outlines the following three options which IAASA could adopt/adapt as a future auditing framework for Ireland:

• option 1 – adapt the UK FRC audit framework for the Irish market;
• option 2 – adopt the international audit framework; or
• option 3 – develop domestic standards.

IAASA is seeking the views of stakeholders and invites interested parties to provide their comments by email only, to [email protected] no later than 5.30pm on 30 November 2016.

Depending on the nature and scale of responses, IAASA may publish a feedback statement summarising the content of the responses. Respondents should note that, in the interest of transparency, their responses may be published in full or in part (and may be attributed to the respondent) by IAASA in that feedback statement.

The IAASA - the future auditing framework for Ireland consultation paper is available here