Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

I do not want to give a definitive view on the specific arrangement in place but the issue has come up previously. It came up in relation to the Dublin Docklands Development Authority where the Department had an assistant secretary on the board. The same person was then overseeing the effective governance and control of the authority. The relevant Department, which is now the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, made a change and the person representing it on the board was no longer involved in the oversight on behalf of the Department of the operation of the authority.

That has been established as a principle and it was accepted by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform that it was a better arrangement. I do not have the detail of what has been put in place in respect of Galway 2020 but that is certainly a live issue and a matter of concern.