Ms Geraldine Tallon:

I said we issued guidance to local authorities to ask them to do this more effectively. I have also said that we are looking doubly at oversight and supervision arrangements for local government in the context of local government reform. We can look at this in that context as well. We have, as the Deputy will know, a series of service indicators in relation to performance in local government and they will be reviewed in the context of the oversight and audit commission's operation. I take the criticism that the Deputy is making and acknowledge that the comment we gave back to the Comptroller and Auditor General might have been a little short-sighted but we will be looking very actively at the relationship we have with local government in the context of the approach to local government reform.