Ms Caron McCaffrey:

I assure the Deputy that we have taken action in relation to mess committees. One issue raised by the Committee of Public Accounts at our last hearing concerned whether or not those activities were subject to VAT. We had extensive engagement with the Revenue Commissioners on that. It was, unfortunately, a protracted engagement. The Revenue Commissioners have confirmed to us that they are not VAT-related activities. In addition, we have undertaken our own governance review on the operation of the mess committees. That review has made a number of recommendations, on foot of which we have taken action.