Mr. John McCarthy:

We have a general central governance and development role in respect of narrowing or broadening the functions of local authorities. We want local government to be a broad vehicle for delivery of services locally. That is why we would encourage local authorities to take opportunities of this kind. We do not, however, have the competence to tell them what they should be doing in this area because we are not energy experts and we do not have funding for that area. Those matters come through the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment.