Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring:

We accept that what we are looking for are public moneys. We need to be accountable for them. However, we know the work we do and we are in the position to argue whether we need ten, nine, eight or 12 staff. Regarding protected disclosures in particular, I can accept that there may have been a certain hesitancy in November 2016 on the part of the Departments of Public Expenditure and Reform and Justice and Equality, as no one knew where we were going. By the beginning of 2017, though, we had a clear idea that we were getting a response. If we had sat down with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, perhaps we could have put to it information that would have persuaded it.