Accountants have called on the Government to make a decision on the introduction of new accounting standards.

New European Union rules mean all listed companies will have to compile their accounts under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) drawn up by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).

However, unlisted subsidiary companies are governed by standards laid down by each of the 15 member-states. As it stands in Ireland, this would force companies to use a different British standard than IFRS.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI) said the Government's "failure to make a formal decision is negligent".

"This failure is causing real confusion," the institute said in a statement.

The Government has indicated that it is minded to follow the initiative of Britain, which will allow unlisted companies the choice to use either the IFRS standard or the existing method from the start of next year.

As a minimum, the ICAI wants the Government to formally announce this if it is not prepared to put in place a timetable to force the full transition within a set period.

Failure to announce a decision shortly will increase costs for Irish business, the ICAI says, as many will be forced to prepare two sets of accounts.

While IFRS does not kick in until the start of 2005, companies would need to put any new regime in place this year to allow for the collection of comparative figures from 2004.

The issue also has political ramifications for Government, the institute argues. With many other EU states moving to IFRS and even Britain allowing companies the discretion, "Ireland's reputation as a modern, organised and well-regulated place to do business will be affected by any perceived delays in implementing IFRS," the ICAI warns.