Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

It is a policy matter. It is a matter of long standing that it is the Local Government Audit Service and it operates within the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government; it is a parallel. Its audit is quite similar to the audit that we carry out and its remit, in general, very much mirrors our own. Because of the reporting relationship between local authorities and the elected members locally, it is felt appropriate that the audit process would be targeted at a local level as well.

There is a development. In the past three years we have had the appointment of an oversight committee, which is operational. It oversees and looks for general trends in what is happening at local government level. I think its second annual report is due out around now. It is something that is discussed between the committee here and the Secretary General of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, when he appears. As I said, it is enshrined in legislation. Also, I think local government is enshrined in the Constitution as a separate level of government. The audit arrangements mirror that and try to ensure that there is a line of accountability at local level that does not, if one likes, cut across what is happening at the committee. It is a matter for the Legislature, I suppose to-----