Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Of course. Members have read the minutes of the meeting from the end of October and, as pointed out, the catalyst or origin was a request by the Minister for Health to have a discussion on the position of Secretary General in his Department. As members know, the post was vacated in June of last year, when the serving Secretary General moved to another Department. For the period since, there was an acting Secretary General serving in the Department at a time of truly extraordinary challenge. The minutes set the thrust of the discussion and where it led to by way of a conclusion that there would be a need to go beyond standard terms in order to attract candidates of the highest calibre.

Turning to the question of the appointment of Mr. Watt as interim Secretary General of the Department, pending the outcome of the open TLAC process, ultimately, the Taoiseach asked Mr. Watt to move across to the Department of Health on an interim basis. That is what happened in the first week of January.