Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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The question of oversight arises in this interaction. As one who, like Deputy Cassells, had the privilege or torture of serving on a city council for 17 years, my questions arise because I believe in city councils and democracy and have great respect for their staff, who are overworked, underpaid and continually moved from department to department. However, my opinion of the management of city councils is quite different. There were seven acting or full-time city managers in Galway between 1999 and 2013, which created its own problems, as the witnesses might appreciate. The Comptroller and Auditor General has produced a chapter regarding the Solas pictiúrlann, which issue was to have been last week discussed by the committee but was not. There has been major overspend in Galway on the Seamus Quirke Road, Eyre Square and the pedestrianisation of Galway city. Somebody made a mistake somewhere. It is falling apart. During my time on the council, we were told the matter of liability had been shelved in respect of the pedestrianisation of the city, which remains a huge problem. In that context, audits and this new commission are extremely important. It is the one thing which can give us hope in terms of accountability.

How many staff are assigned to the Local Government Audit Service? What complement of staff does it require? Does it have enough staff to carry out its work?