180. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will examine the merits of bringing the local authority audit system under the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General. [48287/26]

Local authorities operate in a highly regulated environment which seeks to ensure transparency and accountability.

The Local Government Audit Service (LGAS) is the statutory independent external professional audit service for the local government sector, which performs its functions in accordance with sections 114 to 126 of the Local Government Act, 2001, as amended by the Local Government Reform Act, 2014. The LGAS provides independent scrutiny of the financial stewardship of local authorities and other local bodies in accordance with the Accounting Code of Practice and Code of Audit Practice.

The Local Government Reform Act 2014 strengthened the governance arrangements at local government level and established the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) as an independent statutory body to provide oversight of local authorities in Ireland.

In 2024 the Local Government Code of Governance was published by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH). This Code was developed in close consultation with the local authorities. It is a framework which sets out the benchmark and roadmap for good governance in local authorities.

Elected members are conferred with a central role in financial oversight and governance within local authorities in the Local Government Acts. The oversight function of the elected council in local authorities is a core principle of democratic accountability and financial governance. In addition, the Local Democracy Taskforce, which has completed its work and submitted its report to me, was tasked with making recommendations to ensure that the recommendations of the Local Government Audit Service and findings of NOAC are scrutinised by the elected Council and acted upon, with mandatory oversight responsibilities developed for councillors in this regard.

The State is a party to the Council of Europe's European Charter on Local Self-Government, which lays down standards for protecting the rights of local authorities and requires states which have ratified it to comply with a number of conditions, principles and practices. States undertake to respect a core of basic principles to which no reservation is possible – such as the right of citizens to participate in managing public affairs, the key rights of communities to enjoy autonomy and self-government, elect their local bodies and to have their own structures and financial resources. The conditions of office of local elected representatives must ensure that they are able to exercise their functions freely within the limits of local self-government.

On foot of our obligations under this international treaty, the independence of local government is recognised in Article 28A of Bunreacht na hÉireann. The statutory independence of local authorities in the performance of their functions is further set down in Section 63 of the Local Government Act 2001. It is not clear how a proposal to bring the local authority audit system under the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General would be in line with the constitutional and legislative independence of local government or respect the independent role of locally elected Councillors.