Irish Brokers Association chief executive Mr Paul Carty leaves the association next month to become head of broker services at insurance brokers Coyle Hamilton - and a director of the firm. Central Bank approval for the appointment of Mr Carty to the senior management position at the brokerage has been sought.

Mr Carty's replacement at the IBA will be Mr Paul Lynch, who is currently secretary general of the Irish Cross.

Mr Carty (45) worked for the broker representative body for 17 years. He was national director of the National Insurance Brokers Association from 1984 to 1990. When that body merged with the Corporation of Insurance Brokers in Ireland in 1990, he was appointed chief executive of the merged body. IBA is now the main body representing insurance brokers, with about 600 member firms.

Confirming his move, Mr Carty said yesterday: "I am looking forward to joining the country's leading brokerage and to the new challenges the job will present. While I am leaving the employment of the IBA, I will in my new position be a member of the association, so my links will not be severed entirely."

During his time with the IBA, Mr Carty was involved in representative work for brokers as well as broker regulation. Earlier this year, the IBA lost its self-regulatory role following general dissatisfaction with the fragmented nature of regulation of insurance and investment intermediaries.

High profile problems included the arrest of Mr Tony Taylor, a former IBA president, for alleged fraud. Mr Lynch, who is in his early 40s, has been secretary general of the Irish Red Cross for three years, during which time he has developed and implemented a business plan for the organisation. He was not available for comment yesterday.