Mr. Michael McCarthy:

On the supports for the audit committees where NOAC's involvement is with the audit committees, members of our working group on financial performance and management are physically going out to meet the chairs of the 31 audit committees at an in-person event later in the summer. We can get a first-hand account from the chairs of what they think the issues are, for example, in respect of training or resources. That is very important. One should bear in mind that NOAC has only been around for a few years. The last time we appeared before the committee in 2019, there were many areas that we had just not gotten to at that point in time. We have since. We would have probably been further on with that particular journey, but the pandemic struck. The in-person meeting with the chairs of the audit committees entails a significant volume of work for us. It enables them to thrash out, in-person, what they think the issues are and where the deficits might be in terms of human resources or specialist training. On a previous occasion, we visited Sligo County Council as part of a scrutiny visit. At that stage, Mr. Hayes, who is now my colleague on the board of NOAC, was CEO of the council. I am aware that Mr. Hayes would like to make a point about some of the very good practices that we have seen in Sligo County Council. Ultimately, it is about co-ordinating that good work and showcasing it at the seminar. The reports are published continuously. They are available online for everyone to see. We also issue the reports to the local authorities, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. It is a case of having to keep saying it, keep highlighting the issues and keep shining a torch on it. There are a few specific very good initiatives in Sligo County Council, particularly in the area of climate change, that Mr. Hayes wants to elaborate on.