Chartered Accountants Ireland remains the biggest professional accountancy body in Ireland according to figures contained in the 2009 Annual Report from the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA), the body established by statute to supervise the prescribed accountancy bodies operating in Ireland.
Chartered Accountants Ireland members still dominate the profession, now numbering 12,694 in Ireland, considerably more than any other professional accountancy body here. Indeed, the Institute's membership in the Republic of Ireland has shown the strongest growth of any accountancy body between 2008 and 2009, up more than 5%. The Institute also shows the strongest percentage growth from '06 - '09, up 21%.
In terms of students entering the profession, while numbers studying accountancy dropped across the board last year, Chartered Accountants Ireland has seen the smallest decrease of the main accountancy bodies, at -11% (ACCA students fell almost 30%, CPA and CIMA students by 17%). The IAASA Annual Report also found that Chartered Accountants Ireland had the youngest student population of any of the accountancy bodies, with 53% of members under the age of 25.
Commenting on the figures, Paul O'Connor, President of Chartered Accountants Ireland said:
"These statistics shows that Chartered Accountancy remains a compelling career choice for young people.
"We're very pleased that Chartered Accountants Ireland has maintained its pre-eminent position in the accountancy profession, and is performing strongly in the recruitment of new students.
"New developments in our education offering such as the Chartered Accountants Elevation Programme (the new route to the qualification for more experienced professionals), in conjunction with the best-in-class training facilities now available in our new offices in Belfast and Dublin, will continue to make us an attractive proposition for the most promising Irish students of accountancy."
Ends
Reference: Ronan O'Brien, Chartered Accountants Ireland Communications Director, 087-2304070.
Note to Editors:
- The IAASA Annual Report 2009 was published on 24th June 2010 and can be accessed here.
- Chartered Accountants Ireland is Ireland's largest and oldest professional body of accountants founded in 1888 and with over 19,000 members.