Mr. Noel Waters:

We accept the point. We have no reason to get into dispute with the Comptroller and Auditor General on that point. However, we need to put some context on the discussion. When this was happening, it was a programme of fundamental or transformational change in the prison system. At the same time, numbers were spiralling upwards and they had to be managed. Allied to that, the Prison Service headquarters was moving from Dublin to Longford. This meant there was practically a 100% changeover of staff. Almost 100% of the staff who ended up in Longford had not been in the headquarters in Dublin, although I stand to be corrected on that. All of that had to be managed as well. At the same time, the prison system had to function.

We take the point entirely. We do need to go right into the guts of this again now in the context of-----