International Cooperation

The Office cooperates with audit institutions of other countries both in Europe and around the world. Cooperation allows the Office to expand its knowledge of good practice and to share its experience and achievements. The principal aim of international cooperation is to strengthen public administration. The Office is also a willing contributor in the area of strengthening the oversight and auditing capacity of developing countries.

The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General is a member of several international organisations of Supreme Audit Institutions.

International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI)

INTOSAI operates as an umbrella organisation for the external government audit community. It is an autonomous, independent and non-political organisation which comprises 195 full members, 5 associate members and 2 affiliate members. The objective of INTOSAI is to provide a platform for knowledge sharing among SAIs, improve government auditing worldwide and enhance professional capabilities.

INTOSAI authorise and endorse the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI) which state the basic prerequisites for the proper functioning and professional conduct of Supreme Audit Institutions and the fundamental principles in the auditing of public entities.

The members of INTOSAI meet once every three years at a meeting of the International Congress of Supreme Audit Institutions (INCOSAI). INCOSAI is the supreme organ of INTOSAI. All members of INTOSAI are members of INCOSAI. The meeting offers members an opportunity to share experiences, discuss issues and issue recommendations to improve government accountability worldwide. The most recent meeting took place in Brazil in 2022. 

INTOSAI Performance Audit Sub-Committee

The Office was appointed Chair of INTOSAI’s Performance Audit Subcommittee (PAS) in November 2022. 

PAS is a sub-committee of the Professional Standards Committee (one of four goal committees of INTOSAI).  PAS is INTOSAIs expert community on public sector performance audit and has a mandate that includes developing standards and guidelines for performance auditing.  

PAS members meet once a year and the State Audit Office of Georgia hosted the 2024 annual meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia on the 5 - 6 March 2024 (see photo below).  The 2023 meeting was held in Dublin and hosted by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General. 

European Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI)

EUROSAI is one of seven regional working groups established under INTOSAI. It comprises 51 SAIs (50 European SAIs and the European Court of Auditors).
EUROSAI shares its overall objective with INTOSAI, but is focused on knowledge sharing and professional cooperation among SAIs based in Europe. EUROSAI seeks to advance the study of public sector audit and to work towards the harmonisation of terminology in the field of public audit.

The members of EUROSAI meet every three years at a meeting of the Congress of EUROSAI. 

International visitors

Colette Drinan, Secretary and Director of Audit, and Deirdre Quaid, Director of Audit welcomed Ms Nancy Gathungu, Auditor General of Kenya who paid a visit to the Office of Comptroller and Auditor General, 2 November 2023.

The Contact Committee

The Contact Committee is an assembly of the Heads of the SAIs in the European Union and of the European Court of Auditors. It is autonomous, independent and non-political. The Contact Committee’s mission is to enhance cooperation among its members in order to improve external audit and accountability in the EU. In order to contribute to the improvement of financial management of the Community budget and good governance, the Contact Committee supports, initiates and coordinates common activities within the European Union.

Liaison Officers from each Member State provide an active network of professional contacts around Europe. The Contact Committee also incorporates working groups, networks and task forces on specific audit topics.

The members of the Contact Committee meet once a year. The 2024 Contact Committee meeting is due to be hosted by the Audit Office of the Republic of Cyprus. 

Contact Committee Statements

In March 2022, the Contact Committee issued a letter to all members of INTOSAI to stand up for peace and support the people, the State and the institutions of Ukraine. The letter is below.

Contact Committee letter to INTOSAI members

In November 2023, the Contact Committee published a statement (CC 1/2023) in support of the constitutional role, mandate and independence of the Supreme Audit Office of Poland. The link to the statement is below.

Contact Committee Statement (CC 1/2023)

Membership of audit boards, working groups and other forums

The Comptroller and Auditor General sends representatives to attend conferences and to sit on working groups, task forces and forums which will enhance both the work of the Office and public sector audit internationally. At present, the Office is participating in a number of working groups, task forces and projects, including the following:

• Fiscal Policy Audit Network
• INTOSAI and EUROSAI Working Groups on Environmental Audit
• EUROSAI Benchmarking Information Exchange Project
• EUROSAI Database of Audits
• Public Audit Forum

The Office also contributes to European and International accountability and oversight through rotating membership of a number of audit boards of European and International bodies. The Office is currently represented on the following evaluation and audit advisory committee:

• The International Civil Aviation Organisation.

Secondments and other engagements

On occasion, staff members participate in international secondments. Recent secondments include placements in the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office, Australia. Inwards secondments also take place – recent international secondees include staff members from Germany, Serbia and the United Arab Emirates.

Also, staff members may be involved in other international work, as it arises. For example, a nominee of the Office was selected for membership of the Supervisory Committee of OLAF, the European Anti-Fraud Agency and a staff member is on secondment to the European Court of Auditors as an attaché to the President of the Court.