Mr. Owen Keegan:

I am the city manager and take responsibility for the project. That would be the standard arrangement. In my submission I drew attention to the fact that the local government auditor had made some adverse findings and identified serious weaknesses. I can assure the committee that when I took up my position I reviewed the changes that had been implemented by the previous city manager and was happy that the changes he had implemented, which I detailed, had constituted an adequate response to the weaknesses identified by the local government auditor.

There were weaknesses in the financial procedures, which was unfortunate. That situation should not have arisen but at no stage did the local government auditor state that moneys were spent that should not have been spent. He drew attention to weaknesses that should not have existed and I am satisfied that they have now been addressed.