Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Local Government Audit Service is separate from us. It is not that we do not want to be helpful to the correspondent, but it is better that we do not get our wires crossed here. We could create the impression that somehow we have a role in sorting this out. Unfortunately, the local authorities are quite separate from the Committee of Public Accounts. There has been talk in the past of legislation to change that. However, local authorities are audited by the Local Government Audit Service. We should inform him of that in the first place. To be helpful, we can point out to him that he can correspond with them and maybe send him the contact details for the Local Government Audit Service. That would be better than confusing the correspondent.