Governance Forum Programme 2025

Events 2020

Ensuring that our Assurance Arrangements are Fit For Purpose [Online]

26 November 2020

11:00–12:30

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Institute of Public Administration, Lansdowne Road, Dublin 4

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Please email governance@ipa.ie for further assistance.

Ensuring that our assurance arrangements are fit for purpose – what are the roles of the providers, the seekers and the receivers?

In much of the discourse on governance and issues relating to oversight and holding to account, the word assurance is invariably used. There is a recognition that within the governance structures, there are those who are assurance providers, those who are assurance seekers, and those who are assurance recipients. Increasingly, the nature, extent and quality of the assurance arrangements and the relationships that underpin these arrangements are under scrutiny and issues of trust and confidence in the system and in the people come to the fore.

Similarly in the context of the governance codes, effective assurance is relevant to the statement on internal control and the process to assess the effectiveness of the system of internal control, which Boards are required to attest to.

For this highly topical event we are pleased to have contributors who will share their insights and reflections on this important governance area. Amongst the questions, which will be addressed are:

The event will be supported by three highly experienced contributors.

Speakers

Dermot Byrne

Dermot Byrne is a Senior IPA Associate and an expert in audit, internals controls, risk and corporate governance. He retired in 2023 as Head of the Internal and EU Audit Unit in the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. The Unit is the designated Audit Authority in Ireland for the European Regional Development Fund as well as providing the internal audit service to DPER and to the Department of Finance.   

Dermot is currently a Committee member on the Ireland Region Committee of the Chartered Institute of Internal Audit. He is Chair of the Audit Committee at Galway City Council and has served as chair and member of several other public and state sector Audit and Risk Committees. 

Orla Duane

Orla is a Deputy Director of Audit in the Office of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, and works in the semi-states directorate in the Office.  Currently, Orla has responsibility for audit insights, outsourcing of financial audits and a number of in-house financial audits.

Don Peebles

Don is Head of Policy & Technical at the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), having served as CIPFA’s Head of Devolved Government as well as having key responsibilities for Financial Management in CIPFA. He also served as the expert budget adviser to the Welsh Assembly’s Finance Committee and was appointed to the Scottish Parliament Budget Review Group.

As Head of Policy & Technical, he leads CIPFA’s team of technical and policy experts and is responsible for all of CIPFA’s codes of practice and guidance on areas including governance, accountability and financial reporting.