Members of Chartered Accountants Ireland, the longest-standing professional accountancy body on the island of Ireland, have elected Pat O’Neill as president at the Institute’s 134th AGM. 

Chartered Accountants Ireland represents over 30,000 members and educates 7,000 students.

Pat O’Neill has over 30 years of experience as an audit partner with EY, and has served on the CAI council since 2014. He holds a BBS degree from the University of Limerick.

Addressing the AGM, O’Neill criticised the secondary school accounting syllabus that was introduced over 25 years ago.

“It does little to introduce young people to the breadth of the modern accountant’s role, so it is imperative that the syllabus is made fit for purpose in the 21st century,” he declared.

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“Otherwise, students will be deterred from a career in accounting, and we won’t have the bench-strength to support businesses on this island. 

“The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment has published its report on its Senior Cycle Review. Whilst we are heartened that reform of the senior cycle is now recognised as necessary, the pace of change is just too slow.

“It will likely be 2027 by the time we see change, and during this time, the impact of a lack of supply of accounting talent is only likely to worsen.”

O’Neill noted that accountants are on the Department of Enterprise’s Critical Skills Occupations list - professions with a shortage of qualifications, experience or skills required for the proper functioning of the economy.

The NI Executive has also listed accountancy as an in-demand skill in Northern Ireland. 

O’Neill told colleagues that if Ireland cannot source sufficient accounting capacity from home grown talent, accountants must be attracted into the country from elsewhere.

“Diversity of background and thought is key to any profession. As an Institute, we have been working closely with government to reduce the application processing times for accountants from outside the European Economic Area.

“The improvement now coming through in the processing time for such permits has seen wait times reduced to 6-8 weeks from as high as four months. We must retain and even improve upon these shorter processing times to attract the right talent.”

The new CAI president also referenced the need to ensure the recognition of qualifications.  

“In the Republic, a substantial amount of the work required for the audit qualification must be statutory audit work," O'Neill explained.

“So despite students spending a significant amount of their training supporting US FDI businesses with their US reporting requirements, it will not count towards qualification.

“The same goes for experience gained in auditing UK subsidiaries by students based in the Republic. The Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment and IAASA must be involved in finding a solution.”

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