THE Irish Brokers' Association has said that a comprehensive compensation system for those investing through financial brokers is required. The organisation says, in an editorial in its journal The Irish Broker, that it hopes a review of the regulatory process under way in the wake of the Tony Taylor affair "will lead to a restoration of public confidence".

The IBA, has also criticised "certain sections" of the media for the platform given to Mr Taylor and his companies.

The IBA says it will take some time to restore public confidence in the wake of the Taylor collapse "and this will ultimately necessitate establishing a comprehensive compensatory system". It says that this will have to be funded "in a manner which gives protection to consumers while at the same time does not lead to unsustainable costs". The IBA says it has had a number of meetings with the Department of Enterprise and Employment and it hopes the review of regulation now under way will be completed "within weeks".

Mr Tony Taylor has, it appears, been operating in what were unregulated areas of the broking industry for years, as the regulation for much of the sector has only been introduced with the 1995 Investment Intermediaries Act. Had Mr Taylor's operations been regulated at the time, "there is little doubt" but that it would have come to the surface, the IBA says.

Brokers are right to feel that they have been let down by Mr Taylor, the IBA says. However, it says his prominence was due not only to his position as former IBA president but also to "the tremendous platform which was given to him personally, and to companies within his group, by certain sections of the media". It adds. "There is a lesson for the media that they should present a more balanced and broader picture than they have in the past."