John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will stick with the Comptroller and Auditor General for a moment and move to the farm assist scheme. Mr. McCarthy made what I would regard as quite a noble recommendation in his report on the farm assist scheme which was rejected. He recommended that the Department should evaluate the extent to which the farm assist scheme is achieving its objectives in terms of assisting claimants to continue farming and helping the viability of rural communities. I note this while we are on this vein. The Department disagreed and made it clear that such a review would be outside its remit. Can Ms O'Donoghue expand on that and provide the committee with a response as to why the Department came to that determination?