Mr. John Callinan:

As civil servants, our job is to work for the Government. It is not for me to comment on the relationship between the Government and the Oireachtas, to which the Senator referred. We have not specifically sought special designated status because it is not clear what we would mean by it. We have said we have to work collectively on the challenges for the island and Northern Ireland. We sought to have detailed discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive and the Northern Ireland parties to reach a consensus on how to deal with the particular challenges. That is the right way to do it as we will not be able to deliver a solution to which significant groups are opposed. We have to arrive at a format that will make sense for as many people as possible. We have to be more precise on what "special designated status" means.