Mr. Aidan O'Driscoll:

I know and if the Deputy gives me one minute, I will work my way back to it. I am saying I cannot comment on an individual case, that the protected disclosure process is in place to allow anyone to raise a genuine concern they may have. Someone can make a protected disclosure which can be investigated. Sometimes they are found not to have merit, but that is not to imply that the person in question did not genuinely have concerns when they were raised. The protected disclosure process is very important to provide an avenue for people to raise concerns in a way they can consider to be safe. Some issues are best dealt with through formal investigation and that is the direction we have taken to protected disclosures. One thing which I hope gave comfort to the committee was how we had moved towards the most independent form of investigation, that is, investigation by external independent investigators from panels picked by the Office of Government Procurement. They are very independent-minded. They genuinely look at the complaint and the issues raised, assess them and reach their conclusions independently which we accept.

However, that is not the only mechanism available. Under the dignity at work programme, which is a very important programme in the Civil Service now, we also look at less formal forms of engagement including mediation. That was raised earlier and I indicated-----