John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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1746. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he is satisfied that the audits of all local authorities reflect their compliance with national and EU law in respect of the procurement of insurance cover such as public liability and so on; if a value for money audit has been undertaken by the local government auditors in respect of insurance cover whether procured privately by councils or self insurance; if cost comparisons have been undertaken; if he will publish the cost of insurance for each council and the level or cost of claims in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1064/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The function of the Local Government Audit Service is to complete the audits of all local authorities annual financial statements, using a structured audit methodology in accordance with the Code of Audit Practice and related guidelines. Local Government Auditors are independent in the performance of their duties and it is a matter for each auditor to decide what matters to review. It would however be normal for areas of significant expenditure to be included in an annual audit. Any material matters arising would be referred to in the audit report and all audit reports are published on my Department’s website at .

The Value for Money Unit of the Local Government Audit Service has not conducted a VFM audit on insurance in recent years. However, the Local Government Sector, together with Education and Training Boards (ETBs) and the Office of Government Procurement (OGP), set up a Steering Group in 2015 to oversee a VFM review of Irish Public Bodies (IPB), the mutual insurer for local authorities and ETBs. The OGP's Chief Procurement Officer was a member of the Steering Group. The Group concluded its work in September 2016 and found that IPB is providing good value for money.

Local authorities are independent in the execution of their powers and the elected members are democratically accountable for all expenditure of the authority. Details of the cost of insurance for each local authority and the level or cost of claims are a matter for the local authorities concerned; therefore, the information requested is not available in my Department.