Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

-----we have a limited amount of time here.

The budget was submitted, the budget was scrutinised and there was toing and froing. Mr. Tierney and his team have been clear from the get-go that there was an awareness from day one at every level of Government that there would be external consultancy needs to carry out this task within the timeframe and on budget, etc.

The Department received the budget, it is scrutinised, etc. At what point did Ms Tallon become aware of the magnitude of spending on outside consultants and expertise from this budget? When did that come to her attention? Was it the Seán O'Rourke show or did Ms Tallon know in advance of that?