Auditors should act with greater independence and integrity when performing their duties, the director of corporate enforcement said yesterday.

Stating that the reputation of the Republic had been damaged as a result of tribunals and other investigations, Mr Paul Appleby said "good reporting" of suspected breaches of company law should be encouraged.

His office was assessing more than 100 instances of suspected breaches of the law, though most would not be concluded until the second half of the year.

In an address to the Leinster Society of Chartered Accountants, Mr Appleby said: "In a post-Enron environment, there is, I believe, a greater appreciation on the part of many accountants, particularly those acting as auditors, of the need to stand up and be counted, as Roy Keane reportedly said to his Manchester United team-mates recently, and to exercise greater independence and integrity in performing their duties."

Citing the demise of Arthur Andersen in the wake of the Enron debacle, he said compliance enhanced the reputation of businesses with banks and customers. Mr Appleby's office was established last year to encourage compliance with company law and investigate suspected breaches of the legislation. In his address, he made no reference to the High Court inquiry into the Ansbacher affair, which is nearing completion.

He said: "Every citizen has a stake in his or her society and everyone in business has a particular stake in ensuring that people play by the rules. The revelations at the tribunals of inquiry and elsewhere suggest that some, at least, played fast and loose with law in the past."

Reports by auditors of failure to file proper books of account had increased to 50 per year from 10 per year, he said.

"Despite the fact that formal guidance has not yet issued, my office has received about 10 reports from auditors of suspected indictable offences in the last six months," he said. "The noteworthy feature of these reports to date is that most relate to one offence only, namely the failure to file annual returns. More generally, we are examining a further 60 other reports of improper behaviour since the office was set up."