Mr. Maurice Buckley:

Any relocation project takes quite a while to complete from beginning to end. We must pick a number on which we plan the business. In this case, we worked with the Departments and the numbers of staff they had at the time the project started. We allowed for a certain degree of expansion, say, 5% or 10%. We are in the business of providing accommodation, not empty buildings. We were certainly concerned, but there was dialogue because, credibly, the two Departments foresaw their numbers growing.

However, it is not our role to predict numbers in a Department. That is the job of Government. We dealt with the information available to us. It would be lovely if we had 100% of the two Departments in but 95% of both of them are in. There are certainly areas within both Departments where, at least on a temporary basis for a number of years, we can accommodate people at a second location but by and large, the core functions of both Departments are side by side in an efficient work structure. That is a success. I would be more worried if the Deputy asked me why there are 50 empty desks in that building.