Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this item on the Commencement today. I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy John Paul Phelan, to the House. I wish to raise a very important issue. I ask for the Minister of State to consider whether local authority expenditure should be scrutinised by the Committee of Public Accounts. I call for this in the context of a need for greater transparency in the governance and scrutiny of local government finance, and to reflect the financial stewardship that is placed on the whole corporate body of a local authority via its members.

The members of a local authority have a particular role in scrutiny and accountability through the auditing process of local authorities. This does not just concern the executive of the 31 local authorities in this country. It is also about the role of the elected members and the oversight they provide. Five years ago, the Minister of State's constituency colleague, Deputy John McGuinness of Fianna Fáil, introduced a Bill to the Dáil to make the expenditure and income of local authorities accountable to scrutiny by the Committee of Public Accounts. That Bill was rejected at Second Stage and therefore fell. In 2012, the then Minister of State outlined the reasons why the Government objected to the Bill. I do not intend to go into them now as he will be fully aware of them. However, a lot has changed since 2012. We now have the National Oversight and Audit Commission, NOAC, supervising local government. We also have local property tax, a new dimension to local government revenue and expenditure which was not envisaged when this Bill was considered, or when the previous unsuccessful Bill addressed the matter. I do not propose to go into the rights and wrongs of how the local property tax is disbursed across this country. That is for another day and another debate, although I would welcome the House holding that debate at some stage.

Now more than ever, however, people have a right to know how their local property tax and, indirectly, their income tax, is being spent by local authorities across this country. As credible as the National Oversight and Audit Commission is, and with all respect to the good work that it does, the Minister of State, Deputy Phelan, will be aware that its reports do not come under the level of national scrutiny that the Committee of Public Accounts would bring to this work. At a practical level, it is simple fact that Government expenditure comes under the spotlight of the Committee of Public Accounts. The national media pay attention to the work of that committee, as we have seen time and time again. Where there is a focus within this committee the media take an interest, and therefore the public hears about it. That very important fact is worth taking into consideration as part of this recommendation. I am not saying that there are wholesale inefficiencies or bad spending decisions taking place in local authorities. I want to make that clear. What I am saying is that the taxpayers are entitled to the highest levels of transparency and scrutiny around the expenditure of their money in each of these 31 local authorities.

What am I asking of the Minister of State? In simple terms, I am asking him one question. Will he and the Government consider drafting legislation so that the Committee of Public Accounts, and thus the Comptroller and Auditor General, can have a role in scrutinising all 31 local authorities' spending across this country?