Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. It is great that he acknowledged the Local Government Audit Service but, first, who knew that was even there and, second, who has time to check it up? We do not want to create a way of keeping an eye on the local authority. It is not like that. What we need is for people to have trust in the local authority in order that they do not have to find time to check the auditing services to see what they are up to. For me, what is important is that we know what local authorities are doing. I am not criticising Clare County Council, which does a lot of good work, as do many local authorities, but we need people to feel that those working in the local authorities, especially the decision-makers at the top, are doing so with the will of the people. That is their job. They are civil servants and they are there to serve civil society. It is a matter of seeing how that is happening and how the decision-making is being done. This is to make sure they represent what people's needs and wants are in the locality, as opposed to them spending €7.8 million on this one thing they have decided will make them a load of money, while people are trying to campaign for one pedestrian crossing, one public seat or one playground. Surely that kind of stuff should be standard and expected of the local authorities.