Councillor Noel Bourke:

We dealt with some of these issues before the Deputy came into the meeting. I made a point on seminars which I will not repeat in detail, that we have a long and successful record in running seminars for our members. We put a good deal of work into designing them. Our recent seminar was held in Ennistymon at which we had eight excellent speakers and a very good discussion took place between the speakers and councillors present. At a previous one the Minister of State, Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, spoke to us about Irish Water and answered the many questions people had. We place a good deal of importance on these seminars and want to be part of that process in the future.

We recognise there will be locally run training sessions in addition to what we do on a national basis. We have no problem with that. Currently 38 county and city councils and four of the five borough councils are affiliated to LAMA. Each council makes a contribution. The AMAI caters very well for the town councils but we cater for county councils, city councils and borough councils. Putting People First makes reference to the possibility that LAMA member may have to fund the organisation fully and it appears to suggest there will not be funding from the local authorities. We ask the committee to ensure the current arrangement continues. We will be down to 31 councils and we will need their contributions if we are to survive and continue with our work.