John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will finish with this point. I am very grateful to the Chairman for giving me time on this, because this is a catch-22 situation. I do not know how it can be solved. Regardless of the collection of debt, given the subvention from the State and the fact that as Accounting Officer the payments are made by him to the local authority, regardless of independent audit, it still is the main Department responsible for local government and the environment. If one goes through the different responsibilities of Mr. McCarthy's Department, the funding includes general purpose grants, housing and urban regeneration, environmental initiatives, education and employment, recreation and other local services. It is a huge remit of services.