John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

What he set out in his letter is a role that already exists. I argue with him that the way local government is developing is nonsense for the following reason. Last month, there were two days of one week where two full pages of a newspaper was taken up through listing the losses and inefficiencies of spend by local government. I presume the journalists got their information from the audit office. Had that not happened we would have had no public consciousness about the losses. Like it or not, the Committee of Public Accounts exposes what has happened, looks at all of the issues and then makes recommendations. One does not get that with a local government audit and I do not question the ability of their audit team to do their job. I am saying it would be far more beneficial, in the context of the reform of the State, and reforms that his Department is engaged in, to adopt a management tool. The Department should say to the Minister that he should do so.

A sum of €6 billion is allocated to local government. I am not saying that the allocation is not audited. I am saying audit committees are not necessarily established in every local government area. There is also no public debate about waste in local government. I shall cite two of the examples of information that have come to us - the land aggregation information and information on the Poolbeg incinerator. There is not a defined line for debate and I am extremely disappointed that such an initiative has not materialised in policy.

Was the Secretary General at the conference last weekend?