Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for their attendance. NOAC is probably the first organisation to appear before any of the six Oireachtas committees on which I serve to state that it is sufficiently resourced. That is definitely a first and a positive. I sat on the audit committee of my local authority, South Dublin County Council, for several years. I served there for almost a decade. I am currently a member of the Oireachtas audit committee.

I am speaking from experience when I say that all of those involved in audit committees have an extremely tough job to do without, as Mr. McCarthy said, necessarily having the specific expertise that is often required for such a complex role. My question is similar to that asked by other members today. How can we support those members to arrive at the best possible outcomes? Mr. McCarthy spoke about AILG, which I agree provides a huge support structure for county councillors. However, I am not sure that its members have the expertise, technical knowledge or, indeed, the remit to support auditors. I would have thought that perhaps that is the function of the internal audit committee for each local authority rather than AILG. I would certainly like to hear more about that.

I note, from Mr. McCarthy's opening statement, that NOAC is reviewing the performance of individual local authorities through profiling, and the process is ongoing. I would like to learn more about it. When is the process due to be completed? Have all local authorities been engaged with at this stage? Are there any initial findings or trends that NOAC can discuss? Are there local authorities which have shown themselves as best in class? Mr. McCarthy spoke about best practice and how best practice learnings are shared at NOAC's annual CCMA seminar. I would be interested to hear if there is more ongoing collaboration and sharing of best practice happening more organically or in real time. Before I was a politician, I worked in the corporate world. I strongly believe in not reinventing the wheel and in lifting and shifting best practices from one region to another. I would like to hear more about what NOAC is doing outside of the annual seminar to showcase and share best practice.