The Office cooperates with Supreme 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. 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 Egypt in October 2025.
INTOSAI Performance Audit Sub-Committee
In November 2022, the Office was appointed Chair of INTOSAI’s Performance Audit Subcommittee (PAS) for a 3-year term. The Office began its second 3-year term as chair of PAS in 2026.
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 in person once a year and the State Audit Office of Hungary hosted the 2026 annual meeting in Budapest, Hungary on the 24 – 25 March 2026. The 2025 meeting was held in Bucharest, Romania and was hosted by the Romanian Court of Accounts.
European Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI)
EUROSAI is one of seven regional working groups established under INTOSAI.
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. The most recent meeting took place virtually in May 2025.
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 2025 Contact Committee meeting was hosted by the Maltese National Audit Office in Floriana, Malta, on 19 - 20 November. The Comptroller and Auditor General made a presentation on the National Training Fund as part of lessons learned in EU competitiveness.
Contact Committee Statements
In September 2025, the Contact Committee published a statement (CC 1/2025) in support of external public audit of the European Investment Bank. The link to the statement is below.
Contact Committee Statement (CC 1/2025)
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)
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.
Further Contact Committee statements can be found here
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 that 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:
- Contact Committee Fiscal Policy Audit Network
- Contact Committee Recovery and Resilience Facility co-operation Group
- Contact Committee Working Group on activities on Value Added Tax
- Contact Committee TiNA Platform
- INTOSAI and EUROSAI Working Groups on Environmental Audit
- EUROSAI IT Working Group
- EUROSAI Benchmarking Information Exchange Project
- EUROSAI Database of Audits
- EUROSAI Network for Ethics
- Public Audit Forum
The Office also contributes to European and International accountability and oversight through rotating membership of a number of audit and oversight boards of European and International bodies. The Office is currently represented on the following boards and committees:
- European Stability Mechanism Board of Auditors.
- Evaluation and Audit Advisory Committee of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)
- INTOSAI Professional Standards Committee
- INTOSAI Financial Audit and Accounting Subcommittee
International visitors
Seamus McCarthy, Comptroller and Auditor General, welcomed Mr Tony Murphy, President of the European Court of Auditors and a former colleague from the Office, to the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General on 30 September 2025.
Secondments and other engagements
On occasion, staff members participate in international secondments. Recent secondments include placement with the European Court of Audit.
Also, staff members may be involved in other international work, as it arises. For example, a performance audit workshop was provided to the State Audit Office of Latvia in December 2025. Also, a joint delegation from the Swedish Audit Office and the Netherlands Court of Auditors undertook a study visit to the Office in March 2025. A number of areas of mutual interest were discussed such as professional learning and development and performance metrics and trends.
