Mr. Derek Moran:

There are several former colleagues working in the Parliamentary Budget Office. The population of people who produce a national budget is quite small so one is fishing in the same pond for staff. They would be colleagues. There would be that sort of connection. The critical thing is that they provide more information to the Committee on Budgetary Oversight that allows for proper challenge. The contacts are largely informal. I do not think there is a memorandum of understanding between ourselves and the office or between the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the office. There would be ongoing contact around information but not in a formal way. It does add to the layers of accountability and improvements in accountability around budgeting in the same way as the IFAC is fundamental.