Mr. Noel Waters:

Deputy Perry might have been in the Chair when the person who was in my shoes was the Accounting Officer for the entire justice family of bodies. That included the Garda, the prisons, the courts, the Department and the Land Registry. That has changed dramatically. We are now down to the Prison Service and the Department. A report published during the week suggests that the director general of the Prison Service should now become the Accounting Officer for the Prison Service. The Department will study the report but as a matter of principal I personally would not have a difficulty with that. I think it would be right and proper for the appropriate accountability arrangements to be in place. Nevertheless, as the Deputy can see from the Department's Vote, there are approximately 60 subheads in it and it covers a huge range of activities from immigration to many other issues in the Department. It is a big Vote and it takes in all issues that are in the justice area.