SPEAKERS' & CHAIRPERSONS' BIOGRAPHIES
BRIAN BOYLE is Accountant General and Assistant Secretary in charge of the Accountant General's and Strategic Planning Division of Revenue. He is responsible for oversight of the development and implementation of innovative operational business policies along with design of new, enabling business processes. Brian is also the Accountant General responsible for the accounting and reporting of all taxes and duties collected by Revenue and associated banking functions.
COLM BROWNE is President of the Irish Tax Institute and a Tax director with PwC, where he trained as an accountant and tax adviser. He left PwC as a Tax manager to move back home to the mid-west where he worked with BDO and later OBI, where he was a Tax Partner. In 2018, he moved back to PwC taking up the role of Tax Director in their Limerick office. He also heads up a centralised corporation tax compliance function for PwC in Kilkenny. Colm was elected to the Council of the Irish Tax Institute in 2014. He is the 47th President of the Tax Institute.
NIALL CODY is Chairman of the Office of the Revenue Commissioners - the Irish Tax and Customs Administration. He leads an organisation which is responsible for the collection of virtually all taxes and duties and the implementation of customs controls in Ireland. Mr. Cody is one of three Commissioners who form the Board of Revenue. He was appointed Commissioner in February 2012 and appointed Chairman in February 2015. He has specific responsibility as Commissioner for direct and indirect tax policy and legislation, international tax and corporate services.
IAN COLLINS is Partner & Head of the National Innovation Incentives tax practice at EY in Ireland with responsibility for overall management and quality assurance of Irish R&D, Knowledge Development Box, capital allowances, and Digital Games tax credit claims. Ian is a founding member of EY’s Global Incentives network, and heads up a team of engineers, scientists and tax professionals. He is a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) and a fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland. Ian conducts training seminars and workshops on these various incentive regimes, and acts as tutor/speaker for the Irish Tax Institute, including at the Institute's Annual Conference in 2016. Ian serves on the Council of the Institute and on the Institute's Policy and Technical Committee.
MAURA CONNEELY is a Principal Officer in Business Taxes Systems in Revenue. The team’s work includes delivering the main annual business tax returns and IT projects including eTax clearance, eCG50 and a range of other online developments. The team also supports customers in registering for Revenue’s myAccount which is the online channel for PAYE taxpayers.
SANDRA CLARKE is the Hub Director of BCC Xeinadin Group. She is a Past President of the Irish Tax Institute. She represents tax practitioners and accountants at division and TALC level, with the Revenue Commissioners through the Irish Tax Institute/Revenue Branch Network. Sandra has worked in the practice for over 30 years. She has an extensive range of experience in all aspects of taxation and accounting. Sandra is a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA), Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) and has a wide range of knowledge in all areas of taxation.
DAVID FENNELL is a Tax Director with EY and has advised on a wide range of domestic and international taxation matters for over 30 years. He is a Past President of the Irish Tax Institute, a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) Fellow and a Chartered Accountant. David has written extensively for professional journals and books including Irish Tax Review, Taxation Summary, FINAK, Irish Tax Policy in Perspective and Accountancy Ireland. David is also the editor of Direct Tax Acts and represents the Institute at TALC.
ORLA FITZPATRICK is the Assistant Secretary Responsible for Revenue's Medium Enterprises Division (MED). Her responsibilities include responsible management and development of service, compliance and audit functions for Medium sized businesses and their Proprietary Directors including top Legal and Accountancy Firms, all Government Departments and Public Bodies.
KAREN FRAWLEY is a Partner in Deloitte's Corporate & International Tax practice. She has over 25 years’ experience advising a broad range of clients including multinational companies, Irish plcs and large Irish indigenous companies. Karen works with clients in relation to Irish and international tax issues such as IP structuring and business model optimisation and has particular expertise in advising clients in relation to corporate group re-organisations, M&A transactions and structuring of cross border transactions. Karen is a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) Fellow and a Chartered Accountant (FCA). She has been named as one of the leading women in tax in the International Tax Review's (ITR) Women in Tax Leaders guides each year from 2016 to 2023. In 2022 and 2023, she was also included as a highly regarded tax adviser by the International Tax Review and in the women in business law expert guide. Karen is immediate Past President of the Irish Tax Institute. Karen sits on the Executive of Deloitte Ireland as Clients & Industries Leader.
STEPHEN GAHAN is co-founder of ODG Advisory, a corporate finance and tax advisory firm based in Cork, and leads the firm's Tax Advisory Team. He has broad experience in all areas of Irish taxation and specialises in M&A transactions, property investment and succession planning structures for SMEs and high net worth individuals. Stephen is the Chair of the Institute’s Tax Administration Committee which oversees the Institute’s representations in relation to tax administration issues. He also chaired the TALC Collections Sub-Committee for the Institute in 2021. He is a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA), a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and is a Council member of the Irish Tax Institute.
DENIS HERLIHY is Managing Partner at BDO, Limerick. He is a former Council Member of the Irish Tax Institute and a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) Fellow. Denis holds an MComm Degree from UCC, a Diploma in Arbitration Law from UCD and Professional Diploma in Corporate Governance from UCD. Denis has spent a significant portion of his years of practice dealing with Revenue Interventions and Revenue Audits. He has been involved in a significant number of appeals taken before the Appeal Commissioners, the Circuit Court and the High Court. He is also editor of Finance Act 2022 - The Professionals Guide, published by the Irish Tax Institute. Prior to being editor of Finance Act 2022 - The Professionals Guide, he was editor of the annual publication of FINAK.
JOE HOWLEY is Revenue's Collector General, responsible for the collection of taxes and for the implementation of debt management programmes, including appropriate interventions to maximise timely compliance and debt enforcement action against those who fail to comply. He is also responsible for the Debt Warehousing Scheme and the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS).
JIM KELLY is a Tax Director in Grant Thornton, having joined in 2003. He has over 30 years' experience in all areas of Irish taxation having spent 10 years with the Revenue Commissioners and subsequently working as a director of taxation with PKF Dublin which merged with Grant Thornton in 2003. Jim is an experienced professional having dealt with all aspects of Irish taxation including personal taxation, corporate taxation, VAT, Relevant Contracts Tax, retirement and estate planning, group reorganisations, international tax issues, intellectual property structuring and preparing for and negotiating Revenue audits. He has extensive experience in advising international and domestic organisations involved in manufacturing, construction and retail. Jim is a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA).
COMMISSIONER RUTH KENNEDY is a member of the Revenue Board, which is comprised of three Commissioners each appointed by the Taoiseach. Five Revenue Divisions report directly to Commissioner Kennedy, namely the Accountant General's and Strategic Planning Division, Information Communications Technology and Logistics Division, Collector General’s Division, Business and Personal Divisions.
RICHARD LOMBARD is a Principal Officer in the Transfer Pricing Audit Branch in Revenue's LCD. Richard's branch conducts risk driven transfer pricing audits/other compliance interventions across the Revenue case base and provides operational support to other sectoral branches and divisions in relation to transfer pricing issues.
AIDAN LUCEY is a Partner in PwC’s tax risk and controversy practice, leading the firm’s Revenue interventions and tax risk offering. He has more than 15 years of experience assisting clients through wide-ranging Revenue interventions, including multi-tax head audits, e-audits and investigations. He also has extensive experience supporting clients to proactively manage their tax risk. In particular, he assists companies in developing their Tax Control Framework and carrying out self-reviews of their tax filings. Aidan also supports companies participating in Revenue's Cooperative Compliance Framework to meet their obligations. Aidan is a recognised expert in Revenue interventions and tax risk, regularly presenting at events and contributing to publications on the topic. Aidan sits on the Irish Tax Institute's Tax Administration Committee and on Revenue's TALC Audit Sub-committee, where he represents the views of taxpayers and works closely with Revenue on audit policy. Aidan is co-author of the Institute's publication, Revenue Audits and Investigations – The Professional’s Handbook.
LAURA LYNCH is a Tax Partner with L&J Tax in Galway. She is a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) Fellow, a Council Member of the Irish Tax Institute and a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland. Laura is a highly experienced tax adviser, with more than 20 years’ experience working with entrepreneurs, business angel investors, parents and professionals. She is one of Ireland’s leading EIIS experts. Laura has co-authored several editions of Finance Act – The Professional’s Guide and is the Irish Tax Institute Representative on a number of Tax Administration Liaison Committees with Revenue, along with being Chair of the Irish Tax Institute's Branch Network with Business Division.
AISLING MCEVOY is a Principal Officer in Revenue's Business Division and is responsible for Compliance in counties Louth, Cavan and Monaghan for Business Division customers.
SINÉAD MCNAMARA is responsible at Principal Officer level for the design, delivery, implementation, monitoring & change management function of Revenue's PAYE systems, including PAYE Modernisation and Enhanced Employer Reporting. This involves implementing developments to PAYE taxes systems on foot of Budget and Finance Bill changes, updates and improvements to Revenue's PAYE online services and updating and communicating related information to taxpayers accordingly.
KENNY O'BRIEN is a Principal Officer in Revenue's Large Cases – High Wealth Individuals Division, responsible for considering and challenging tax avoidance schemes.
OLIVE O'DONOGHUE is a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) and a member of Chartered Accountants Ireland. She is a Partner in the People Services tax practice within KPMG and has more than 15 years’ experience advising on expatriate tax matters, employment taxes and personal tax issues across a wide range of both domestic and multinational clients. Olive has been heavily involved in the employment tax area over the last 15+ years also, advising clients in relation to preparing for Revenue audits, rationalisation projects and performing tax due diligences in advance of sale/acquisition and related projects.
MAURICE PRIESTLEY is a Principal Officer with responsibility for Revenue's Construction Branch, Medium Enterprises Division.
JOHN QUIGLEY is a Principal Officer in the Corporation Tax 1 Branch, Business Taxes Policy & Legislation Division of Revenue and is responsible for specific areas of the implementation of Pillar Two, along with policy, legislation and interpretation functions for certain aspects of corporation tax.
TOM REYNOLDS is Deputy President of the Irish Tax Institute and Head of Transfer Pricing and M&A (Tax) at Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management and automation. Tom also leads the Greater India Tax team at Schneider. Tom is a member of Chartered Accountants Ireland and holds an MBA from the University of Ulster. Tom has over 25 years’ experience in industry and prior to his current role Tom was the Head of Tax for Kellogg EMEA and the Group Head of Tax for Kerry Group plc.
JUSTIN WALSH is a Branch Manager in the Risk Management & Quality Branch of Revenue's Business Division. His primary responsibilities are management of Revenue-wide risk systems and selection of cases for compliance intervention in Business Division.
SARAH WATERS is a Principal Officer and Head of the Compliance Policy and Evaluation Branch in Revenue's Accountant General’s and Strategic Planning Division. Sarah is a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) with more than 20 years’ experience working across industry, practice and Revenue. She has significant experience in the personal tax space having worked in employment taxes, global mobility as well as compensation and benefits. On joining Revenue in 2018, Sarah initially worked in Personal Tax Policy and Legislation in Revenue’s Legislation Services division. She has been Head of the Compliance Policy and Evaluation Branch since July 2020 and during that time has had responsibility for developing and implementing compliance policies within Revenue.