Ian Drennan has been appointed the new Director of Corporate Enforcement.

Mr Drennan takes up the position tomorrow and will replace Paul Appleby who held the post of Director since the establishment of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement in 2001.

Mr Drennan previously held the position of chief executive officer opf the Irish Auditing & Accounting Supervisory Authority.

"Mr Drennan brings with him a wealth of experience in the areas of advocacy, regulation and enforcement to the role,” Minister for Jobs Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton said.

Mr Appleby, who steps down from his role today after 10 years in the job, said gardaí should be given more time to question suspects in white-collar crime cases.

Mr Appleby told The Irish Times securing convictions in cases of white-collar crime is particularly difficult to achieve

"Even when there is a lot of documentary evidence involved, this is rarely sufficient to secure a prosecution where the standard of proof is beyond reasonable doubt," according to Mr Appleby.