Mr. Robert Watt:

The practice from 2015 has been that any amount over €10,000, or any amount deemed to be material — I refer to an estimate based on the value, as the Controller and Auditor General has just discussed — has been put in the appropriation accounts. That is happening and will continue. The point I am making is that just because the Controller and Auditor General has placed an X beside "Disclosure in accounts", we should not imply the information was not available before. It was available, and it was available in response to parliamentary questions and freedom of information requests. It was available in evidence I have given at this committee in the past. That has now been formalised in terms of the appropriation accounts for Departments. Within the code of conduct, we have made it clear to agencies and bodies that it should be set out in their annual accounts. I refer to the reports as well as the appropriation accounts.

In effect, we are responding to the report by saying we can do more, make it clear and set it out. That is what we are doing. We are 100% behind the recommendations. These are the sorts of recommendations our Department pushes independently of reports by the Controller and Auditor General. This is the sort of work we have been doing in recent years. We have moved to a much more open approach to all these matters. As members know, the details on the pay of civil servants and their expenses and diaries are available to the public. This is the same as for Deputies, members will be happy to hear.