Mr. Aidan O'Driscoll:

That is a good question. This happens in every reform of every organisation. Every commercial and public organisation that goes through reform maintains they are getting rid of their silos and breaking silos. Of course, the immediate concern is that they are creating new silos when they restructure. That is a really important point. I am not going to labour the detail of the structure, but under each deputy secretary there is an executive board in the area. This allows for more concentrated discussion of the issues within, say, criminal justice or civil justice and equality, as well as the totality of the 15 people. One of the reasons this will pull away from a siloed culture is the new transparency function in the centre. I have described it as the spider in the centre of the web of the Department. It plays a vital role, not only in replying to questions that Oireachtas Members ask but also in pulling together information from across the Department. It will have a unique view of the total totality of the Department. That will contribute a great deal. To be frank, the real responsibility for ensuring the Department does not again become siloed lies with me and my senior colleagues. I will absolutely be satisfied to be held accountable on this. Our prototype is a new structure. Part of the purpose of it is to do away with silos.

I wish to make one final point - I realise the Chairman wants me to be quick. One of the dangers with a functional model is lack of collaboration between functions. That danger is designed into a functional model. We have been watchful about that in these early stages. There is some material in the slides about what we are doing on cross-functional teams. I see that as a bigger danger than a silo mentality precisely in the new model.