Mr. Michael McCarthy:

I will make two points before I hand over to my colleague, Mr. Hayes. Looking at the external bodies that support councils, I mention the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, in particular. It is a great organisation and has been very good for many years. Even when I was an elected member back in 1999, the AILG was a great fallback. We did not then have Google or desktop research facilities. It was a great body that was very supportive of elected representatives in explaining the role and providing training. An element of such assistance is needed. Additionally, in the same context, regarding there being a policy, the role of NOAC is to evaluate the performance of that policy. Ultimately, however, it would be a matter for the Government to decide to put those resources into that kind of initiative.