Mr. William Carlos:

In the evaluation of the multi-annual programme, the consultants proposed bringing the non-governmental organisations and Irish Aid division together to discuss issues. As far as I can remember, it was felt at the time - I can provide further detail - that this was not the most appropriate action. The independent consultants have their view and a management response is provided to every evaluation report we receive. This indicates whether management accepts, partially accepts or does not accept the recommendations in the report. The table shows that all the reports we receive provide a detailed analysis of the management response. It also continuously tracks what happened to the management response. These are detailed questions that the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General wants to track and follow up because the evaluation report provides useful value at the time. However, the most important element is what happens to the recommendations and we must track these.