Mr. Robert Watt:

As I mentioned in response to the earlier comment by the Chairman, we have received the report and I have had a chance to look through it. First, I was surprised about the scale of the funds, amounted to €950 million, as I had not realised it was such a large amount. It is important to stress this is not public money in the way in which we understand public money. It is not voted expenditure, as it is not voted upon by the House. It is not under the control of an Accounting Officer and, consequently, there is an issue as to the role of our Department.

We have no role. On the question of whether there is a future role for the Comptroller and Auditor General, I do not know. That is something we need to reflect on. We need to reflect on it very carefully because these are not liabilities that are liabilities of the State. They are not public moneys or voted moneys, so we need to be careful about what this means. All I can say by way of reassurance is that we will examine this matter and determine what the issues are. I am aware there are concerns about some funds running out and what that might mean for certain individuals. This is obviously a very serious issue for them. I am very happy to talk to the Comptroller and Auditor General offline about that. It is a matter on which we have not had visibility. As I said, it is not public money. It is not audited or voted on.