Mr. David Cooney:

Before I address the Chairman's questions, I thank him for his kind remarks about the committee's trip to Mozambique. I am glad we were able to facilitate him on a productive trip.

As regards the questions, first of all, I welcome these challenges, because we have come here to be challenged about the programme. The Chairman's concerns about capacity are well founded and we have those concerns too. As regards the Chairman's meeting with the national audit office - the Administrative Tribunal - the way in which the president of the tribunal responded to the Chairman's inquiry was unfortunate. He basically did not respond to it. I mentioned earlier the work that is being done to improve capacity there and the fact that Irish Aid has not been in the lead, so I will not go through it again. It is being done by the Germans and Scandinavians. In all honesty, the president would not be able to say that he specifically audited a line of Irish Aid funding. He should of course be able to say that he audited the government budget as a whole, including, therefore, the money that Irish Aid put into that budget. It is certainly regrettable that his answer was not as solid as it should have been.

As regards what we will do about those weaknesses, the Chairman has put down a challenge that we will have to pick up. I will certainly respond to the Chairman in writing, but my colleagues will probably want to come in also. When does the Chairman expect to have his report?