The legal action being taken by Mr Paul Carty and Deloitte & Touche against the Blayney inquiry was adjourned for two weeks by agreement when the matter was mentioned in court yesterday.
A date for the hearing is expected to be set when the matter is next mentioned. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI), which established the inquiry, is concerned that the judicial review being sought could delay publication of the Blayney report until late this year or even into next year. Before the challenge, the report was expected to be published before the summer.
Mr Carty, a former senior partner with Deloitte & Touche, is seeking a judicial review of certain decisions and procedures of the Blayney Appeal Committee. The accountancy firm is a co-applicant. A meeting of the appeal committee, originally scheduled for today, is not now to go ahead.
The Blayney inquiry was established following the 1997 McCracken report and completed its work in May 2000. It is concerned with possible misconduct by members of the ICAI and is chaired by retired Supreme Court judge, Mr John Blayney. The Blayney Appeal Committee was set up in June 2000 after some of the findings of the inquiry were appealed. It is chaired by Mr Hugh Kennedy QC.
A special meeting of the ICAI's 23-member governing council has been arranged for this Friday to "discuss the implications of this challenge and the strategy to be adopted in combating it".
The meeting will also focus on how the association should deal with major inquiries in the future. Among the key matters to be considered is finance. The Blayney inquiry process has cost the institute approximately €3 million.
In the future, the institute may be given statutory powers to compel witnesses, discover documents and take evidence on oath - powers it does not have at present despite its responsibilities in regulating the activities of members.
