Mr. Rob Wright:

Yes, it does. I was really surprised at the limited numbers of senior economists - I mean masters level economists. That was at a very low level. We were quite direct about the need in that regard and I talked a lot about that with everybody in the Department. Some felt threatened by it. Again, people are very good and they are doing a good job but we gave a lot of specific advice on what to do. One of the best things the Department of Finance in Ottawa in Canada does is it has a regular inflow of economists. There is a great deal of interest in working in the Department of Finance there. If you are a senior economist - if you are taking a graduate programme in economics - the Irish Department of Finance would be a fantastic place to work, so open up to that process. Despite some restraints, have a regular influx.

We recommended doubling the number of economists at a master's level within two years. They have not quite done that. We also recommended urgently seconding in expertise from around Ireland and abroad and I think they have acted on that.

The Department of Finance is now focused around almost 300 people. There has been a lot of churn in the Department. That is always a good thing. In fact, it now has over 100 employees with an economics background, almost half of them at master's level. There has been important progress. Very importantly, there have been a number of secondees from the NTMA, Bank of Ireland and other partners around the world that have an interest in this and can add to the immediate bench strength. The core, going forward, is a regular influx and an outreach. The Department now has a full-time human resources expert with a five-year plan. That is not enough - the Secretary General will have to tie himself personally to management objectives for that group - but significant progress has been made and yes, I was very surprised at how little bench strength the Department had.