Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

I agree that there are two ways of viewing this. For the past six or seven years, one of the reports that we have included in the report that is published in September is an update on the flows of funds from central government to local authorities. It is designed exactly to put a finger on how much money emanates from the Exchequer towards local authorities. What we cannot do is go into the local authorities to find out how it is spent. That is where the limit is put on us but we do exactly what the Deputy mentioned in that we identify the flows of funds. Presenting that information is a complex process. I feel that it is a form of report that the committee should be expecting from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government rather than from me. It is absorbing resources on my part when it is the kind of information on which would be perfectly reasonable to expect the Department to give an overview report each year. The point of the report we present each year is that it creates a context for this exact debate with the Secretary General of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

We have also examined spending on water services, housing and grant schemes and we have considered the land aggregation scheme, LAG, and we have reported on same. I can have Mr. Carrie forward those reports to the Deputy or the whole committee so as to show members the kind of work that we have done and to which we revert periodically. However, we cannot do a report on the LAG every year. It is not within our current level of resources. There is scope for the committee to have an engagement with the Housing Agency and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government about the kinds of programme that they are funding.