Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses, their teams, the staff in the Department and in the wider civil and public service for the huge amount of work undertaken during the pandemic, in particular. Whatever critiques we may have of our public service, by and large, public servants have stood up to the plate in no uncertain terms during the last seven months in very challenging times.

My question concerns the role the Department has regarding the implementation "of a strong and sustainable public expenditure framework". In his opening statement, Mr. Watt stated that his "Department sets out clear and accessible structures and guidelines for Departments to follow." How is that monitored? If clear structures and guidelines are put in place by Mr. Watt's Department, how does it then monitor the adherence of other Departments to the standards which have been set?