SPEECH BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE ANNUAL DINNER OF THE INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS IN IRELAND WESTIN
SPEECH BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE ANNUAL DINNER OF THE INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS IN IRELAND WESTIN HOTEL, DUBLIN
A Dhaoine Uaisle, tá lúcháir mhór orm bheith anseo libh anocht ar ócaid speisialta seo. Míle buíochas libh as an chaoin-chuireadh.
I am very pleased to have the opportunity to address the Institute of Directors at your Annual Dinner this evening, and I thank John Smyth, President of the Institute for his kind invitation.
This has been an unnerving year for those concerned with good corporate governance. Internationally renowned names that once were by-words for trust are now more likely to provoke ridicule than respect. The global nature of commerce has meant that the shadow of these events has been cast far and wide and while we are fortunate in Ireland that with rare exceptions, our business directors exercise their legal, social and ethical responsibilities to the highest standards, nonetheless we meet in times when the issue of transparent and trustworthy corporate governance is higher on the agenda than ever before. It is probably fair too to say that universally public cynicism is higher than ever before.
That is precisely why raising the game on corporate governance is not only about increasing regulation or increasing compliance with fiduciary and filing requirements. Effective enforcement of the law is of course necessary to ensure good corporate governance, but it is not enough in itself. It is also essential that companies and their directors are imbued with the ethics underlying sound corporate governance, that corporate morality is not as someone once said, the morality of pirates but the morality of people linked to families, communities, countries, people who care deeply about decency and honesty as well as profit, people who earn and retain trust day in and day out, people who believe that trust is a sacred stewardship that cannot be compromised. That corporate morality is I know something this Institute cares deeply about and I congratulate you on your joint initiative, with UCD, in launching Ireland’s first Centre for Corporate Governance earlier this year.
As the Irish economy becomes one based more and more on intellectual capital it’s clear we are seeing a commensurate development in the skills base of the people who run our businesses. You, as Directors are right on the front line in ensuring we have a systematic and professional approach to investment, to risk-taking, to profit-making, to corporate governance and to compliance with public policy objectives and ethical standards.
Just as Ireland’s economy and attractiveness to both foreign and domestic investors is linked to having good quality physical infrastructure it is also dependent on an efficient world-class company law and corporate governance infrastructure, an infrastructure which is both about regulation and behaviour.
Qualitative change in the company law infrastructure, is ongoing but increasingly under scrutiny is the area of performance and behaviour of the decision-takers within companies. To be a company director in today’s world of increased accountability is undoubtedly a demanding responsibility. In Ireland a company director is rightly accountable in law to shareholders, creditors, employees, regulatory bodies and the Revenue Commissioners. It’s a virtuous circle, one from which we all benefit. Enhanced transparency and accountability in business strengthens investor confidence. Their confidence brings increased stability and resilience to financial markets and that in turn creates a robust commercial environment -our best guarantee of prosperity.
Our country has in a few short years become one of the most open globalised economies in the world. Everywhere I go abroad, Ireland’s remarkable economic transformation is mentioned with respect and curiosity and not a little envy and even though the short term presents tough challenges to all of us, we are entitled to take real pride in what we have accomplished, and in particular in the remarkable achievements of our imaginative business sector. Today Irish business is a byword for success, a success which has lifted Ireland to new levels of self-confidence, prosperity and opportunity.
But it is important to us that embedded in that success is a strong, deeply internalised righteous corporate morality, which also lifts the heart and makes us proud.
The Institute of Directors can take enormous pride in the contribution it is making to ensuring that Ireland is also a contemporary by-word for best practice in corporate and financial governance and a champion of high corporate values. Your hard work helps to ensure that Irish business has an ethically educated conscience. That conscience is one of the most valuable and vulnerable assets a country can have. I wish you continued success in everything you do to protect it.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.