*Booking Closed* Asking the right questions – Enhancing Financial Literacy (In-Person @ the IPA)

01 July 2026

09:30–13:00

IPA (Auditorium)

Public bodies are responsible for delivering critically important public services and public service functions each year, and cannot do so without public money. Governance, finance and delivery go hand in hand.

With public money comes scrutiny and public accountability. Modern public bodies are expected to have strong and effective financial management, financial controls and financial reporting processes in place, which provide, inter alia, for timely and relevant information flows internally and for key stakeholders as well as timely and accurate public reporting on financial performance for the year with accompanying governance and assurance statements.

The objective of this interactive in-person capability-building event is to enhance participants' financial literacy so as to be able to ask the right questions and seek the right assurances on finance and financial control matters.

It is designed for those in governing and leadership positions, and will be particularly useful for Board/Committee members and senior executives and officials who do not have a formal financial background. It will also be useful as a refresher session for those with a financial background but who are new to the public service and/or the public financial management system.

The areas to be addressed in the session will include:

This will be an interactive session, supported by presentation material and the use of practical case studies and illustrative examples.

The session will take place at the Institute of Public Administration, and be led by Aidan Horan and Dr Tom Ward.

Speakers

Aidan Horan

Aidan Horan is a chartered certified accountant and Senior Associate at the IPA. He is a recognised subject matter specialist in corporate and financial governance, risk management, sustainability and assurance.

Aidan is a Director at the Glencree Centre for Peace & Reconcilliation and has been nominated to a number of non-executive roles over the years including as Audit Committee Chairperson, Department of Finance and Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. He is also a member of the Public Financial Management Board and the Sustainability Panel at the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy [CIPFA] (UK).

Aidan was previously Director at the IPA with overall responsibility for governance, assurance and related services. He led the governance specialist team and was the founder member of the Governance Forum at the IPA. 

Dr Tom Ward

Tom is a Senior Governance Specialist in the IPA Governance Team, and re-joined the Institute in May 2017 having previously been a member of staff between 2006 and 2011. He manages the Governance Forum and works on a range of governance assignments for clients, including board performance, risk framework and governance reviews, and the delivery of training and workshop sessions on governance matters for boards, committees and senior teams. He has worked with a wide range of organisations, including government departments, state agencies, local authorities, higher education institutions, and sport, community and charitable organisations.

Tom is currently a non-executive member of the Audit & Risk Committee of the Electoral Commission, and a non-executive member of the Audit Committee at the Department of Finance. He previously served two terms as ARC member at the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (2017-2023). He was also previously a non-executive Director and Vice-Chair of Badminton Ireland (2017-2022), the national governing body for the sport, where he chaired its Governance Committee and was a member of the High Performance Committee.