48statement of directors’responsibilitiesThe following statement, whichshould be read in conjunction with thestatement of Auditors’ responsibilitiesset out within their report on pages49 <strong>and</strong> 50, is made with a view todistinguishing for shareholders therespective responsibilities of theDirectors <strong>and</strong> of the Auditors inrelation to the financial statements.The Directors are responsible forpreparing the <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> <strong>and</strong> thefinancial statements in accordancewith International Financial <strong>Report</strong>ingSt<strong>and</strong>ards (IFRS), the CompaniesActs, 1963 to 2005 <strong>and</strong> Article 4 ofthe IAS Regulation.Irish company law requires theDirectors to prepare financialstatements for each financial yearwhich give a true <strong>and</strong> fair view of thestate of affairs of the Company <strong>and</strong>the Group <strong>and</strong> of the profit or loss ofthe Group for that year.In preparing the financial statementsof the Group, the Directors arerequired to:• prepare the financial statementson the going concern basis unlessit is inappropriate to presume thatthe Group will continue in business.The Directors confirm that theyhave complied with the aboverequirements in preparing thefinancial statements.The Directors are responsible forkeeping proper books of accountwhich disclose with reasonableaccuracy at any time the financialposition of the Company <strong>and</strong> toenable them to ensure that thefinancial statements are prepared inaccordance with IFRS <strong>and</strong> complywith the provisions of the CompaniesActs, 1963 to 2005 <strong>and</strong> Article 4 ofthe IAS Regulation.The Directors have a general dutyto act in the best interests of theCompany <strong>and</strong> must, therefore, takesuch steps as are reasonably open tothem to safeguard the assets of theGroup <strong>and</strong> to prevent <strong>and</strong> detectfraud <strong>and</strong> other irregularities.• select <strong>and</strong> use suitable accountingpolicies <strong>and</strong> apply themconsistently;• make judgements <strong>and</strong> estimatesthat are reasonable <strong>and</strong> prudent;• comply with applicable IFRSsubject to any material departuresdisclosed <strong>and</strong> explained in thefinancial statements; <strong>and</strong>
49report of the independent auditorsfor the year ended 31 March <strong>2006</strong>To the Members of <strong>DCC</strong> <strong>plc</strong>We have audited the Group <strong>and</strong>Parent Company financial statements(the ‘financial statements’) of <strong>DCC</strong> <strong>plc</strong>for the year ended 31 March <strong>2006</strong>which comprise the Group IncomeStatement, the Group <strong>and</strong> ParentCompany Balance Sheets, the Group<strong>and</strong> Parent Company Cash FlowStatements, the Group <strong>and</strong> ParentCompany Statement of RecognisedIncome <strong>and</strong> Expense <strong>and</strong> the relatednotes. These financial statementshave been prepared under theaccounting policies set out therein.Respective responsibilitiesof Directors <strong>and</strong> AuditorsThe Directors’ responsibilities forpreparing the <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> <strong>and</strong>the Group financial statements inaccordance with applicable law <strong>and</strong>International Financial <strong>Report</strong>ingSt<strong>and</strong>ards (IFRS) as adopted bythe European Union, are set outin the Statement of Directors’Responsibilities.Our responsibility is to audit thefinancial statements in accordancewith relevant legal <strong>and</strong> regulatoryrequirements <strong>and</strong> InternationalSt<strong>and</strong>ards on Auditing (UK <strong>and</strong>Irel<strong>and</strong>). This report, including theopinion, has been prepared for <strong>and</strong>only for the Company’s members as abody in accordance with Section 193of the Companies Act, 1990 <strong>and</strong> forno other purpose. We do not, ingiving this opinion, accept or assumeresponsibility for any other purpose orto any other person to whom thisreport is shown or into whose h<strong>and</strong>sit may come save where expresslyagreed by our prior consent in writing.We report to you our opinion asto whether the Group financialstatements give a true <strong>and</strong> fair view,in accordance with IFRS as adoptedby the European Union. We report toyou our opinion as to whether theParent Company financial statementsgive a true <strong>and</strong> fair view, in accordancewith IFRS as adopted by the EuropeanUnion, as applied in accordance withthe provisions of the Companies Acts,1963 to 2005. We also report to youwhether the financial statementshave been properly prepared inaccordance with Irish statutecomprising the Companies Act, 1963to 2005 <strong>and</strong> Article 4 of the IASRegulation. We state whether wehave obtained all the information <strong>and</strong>explanations we consider necessaryfor the purposes of our audit, <strong>and</strong>whether the financial statements arein agreement with the books ofaccount. We also report to you ouropinion as to:• whether the Company has keptproper books of account;• whether the Directors’ <strong>Report</strong> isconsistent with the financialstatements; <strong>and</strong>• whether at the balance sheet datethere existed a financial situationwhich may require the Companyto convene an extraordinarygeneral meeting of the Company;such a financial situation mayexist if the net assets of theCompany, as stated in theCompany Balance Sheet, are notmore than half of its called-upshare capital.We also report to you if, in ouropinion, any information specified bylaw or the Listing Rules of the IrishStock Exchange regarding Directors’remuneration <strong>and</strong> Directors’transactions is not disclosed <strong>and</strong>,where practicable, include suchinformation in our report.We review whether the CorporateGovernance statement reflects theCompany’s compliance with the nineprovisions of the Financial <strong>Report</strong>ingCouncil’s 2003 Combined Codespecified for our review by the ListingRules of the Irish Stock Exchange,<strong>and</strong> we report if it does not. We arenot required to consider whether theBoard’s statements on internal controlcover all risks <strong>and</strong> controls, or form anopinion on the effectiveness of theGroup’s corporate governanceprocedures or its risk <strong>and</strong> controlprocedures.We read the other informationcontained in the <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> <strong>and</strong>consider whether it is consistent withthe audited financial statements. Theother information comprises only theChairman’s Statement, the ChiefExecutive’s Review, the Operating<strong>and</strong> Financial Review, the CorporateSocial Responsibility Statement, theCorporate Governance Statement <strong>and</strong>the Directors’ <strong>Report</strong>. We considerthe implications for our report if webecome aware of any apparentmisstatements or materialinconsistencies with the financialstatements. Our responsibilities donot extend to any other information.Basis of audit opinionWe conducted our audit inaccordance with InternationalSt<strong>and</strong>ards on Auditing (UK <strong>and</strong>Irel<strong>and</strong>) issued by the AuditingPractices Board. An audit includesexamination, on a test basis, ofevidence relevant to the amounts<strong>and</strong> disclosures in the financialstatements. It also includes anassessment of the significantestimates <strong>and</strong> judgments made bythe Directors in the preparation of thefinancial statements, <strong>and</strong> of whetherthe accounting policies are appropriateto the Group’s <strong>and</strong> Company’scircumstances, consistently applied<strong>and</strong> adequately disclosed.We planned <strong>and</strong> performed our auditso as to obtain all the information <strong>and</strong>explanations which we considerednecessary in order to provide us withsufficient evidence to give reasonableassurance that the financialstatements are free from material
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