Mr. Michael McCarthy:

I thank members for their courteous comments and constructive engagement. I will give an holistic response and try to touch on as many of the topics raised as possible.

In response to Senator Victor Boyhan, I have examined the position. I am no different from the Senator, Deputy Pat Casey and Senator Grace O'Sullivan. My previous life did not differ from that of the vast majority of practitioners of the political arts. It would have been born primarily out of a local government base. At that rudimentary democratic level one become involved in the business of the local authority and aware of how it does its business. There are a number of issues that stand out from that experience, one of which is the manner in which different local authorities do their business differently from others and successive administrations have tried to co-ordinate their activities or put them on a level platform. It is splintered in that way. There are now 31 local authorities, some of which are good at doing some things, while others may be not as good in some respects.

There is a big challenge for me, as chairperson, to raise the profile of the NOAC and sell its message. It does a lot of good work. I, too, share the view that once someone has a good story to tell, it is difficult to tell it. If someone was doing something wrong, everybody would be aware of it and it would dominate the news cycle. That is how it is nowadays. I see its work as important in the context of stakeholder engagement. I refer to the Local Government Audit Service, the County and City Management Association and the elected members of local authorities. I have great respect for the system of public administration, but I have always deferred to the manner in which local authority members go about their work. They are the eyes and ears of communities throughout the country in every parish and one cannot but be affected in some positive way by the roles played by local authorities, be it in the provision of housing, roads, libraries and playgrounds. It is a meaningful part of the democratic system. In my chairmanship of the NOAC I am anxious to co-ordinate the activities of the different stakeholders and focus on areas where we think there are improvements to be made, bearing in mind the remit is one of oversight.

To answer Senator Grace O'Sullivan's question, particularly about housing, I reiterate this line because it is important that I do not create the impression that I can comment on it directly or can directly influence policy because I am expressly forbidden from doing so. The NOAC does not have a function or an input in the development of policy for the sector. Our role strictly is to oversee how national policy is being implemented at local government level.

To chime with Deputy Pat Casey's point, I see the valuable work audit committees are doing across local authorities. There is an obvious connection between the overarching role of the NOAC and the individual work being completed by audit committees in local authorities.

Being in mind that I have not been officially appointed, I have only had a tertiery role in monitoring the functions of the NOAC. I am aware, however, that all of the reports have been sent to key decision makers in local authorities. I want to ensure all elected members have access to them. The reports are put up on the website. I am anxious to ensure all of the reports and the stories surrounding them will be directly communicated to local authorities members because they include important information that has been gleaned from the Local Government Audit Service, also on behalf of the NOAC.

That can be useful and beneficial to local authority members when it comes to budgetary planning issues, audit services and so on.

Primarily, I see the role as being very important in raising the profile of NOAC, but also in engaging critically with the stakeholders, beginning with the local authority members and their organisational and representative associations.