Dr. Ambrose McLoughlin:

In respect of the Department, right now I personally approve the external travel of all members of the MAC and the relevant assistant secretaries are charged with signing off for people other than at the top level. I sign off for them and the relevant line manager signs off for the others. There has been a heavy restriction on foreign travel for some years. On top of this, the Department's internal auditors at my request regularly examine travel patterns at home and abroad to ensure everything is in accordance with the appropriate approval and governance system in place because we are concerned to ensure we get value for money. In respect of the six departmental officials, the senior officials in the Department at the time approved these six trips. That is clear from the file.