Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is true and this is not the first time a local authority has been found wanting when it comes to the administration of its budgets as allocated by the Department of Housing, Heritage and Local Government. There is no oversight of spending and that is because nobody is answerable or accountable for the actions of the authorities. Similar shortcomings have been identified in recent times with Mayo County Council, where unjustifiable claims were made against the Department. NOAC, which is the body that has oversight of local authorities, is not accountable to anybody. Nor does it have the powers to ensure the local authorities are accountable to the taxpayer for the administration of their budgets, so the Taoiseach is dead right that the Committee of Public Accounts is where it is at. The Comptroller and Auditor General is independent of Government, and if the Taoiseach feels €6 billion worth of taxpayers' money is not worthy of the Committee of Public Accounts, I am not sure why we have the committee in the first place.

I again urge the Taoiseach to make local authorities accountable for their budgets. The Accounting Officers of the local authorities must be compelled to explain their actions in a public forum. In this regard, the Taoiseach must move immediately to disband NOAC and bring the local authorities under the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General.

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