Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Good afternoon, everybody - or good morning still, I should say. I am up early enough for it to be the afternoon. I welcome everybody to the committee meeting. As we have only five minutes each, I want to make a couple of observations that have been brought to my attention. One is the theory test going online. It appears it is not the only problem, in that you have to have a certain type of software on your computer to use it but if you apply for a test you do not get one until 2023. Maybe that can be brought back to the RSA. It could be that nobody knows the answer to this but could somebody supply to the committee a figure for the cost of putting the theory test online and how much was spent on it? Ultimately, it is a bit of a disaster at the minute.

Regarding the appropriation accounts - and this is probably a question for Mr. Spratt - paragraph 2.10 relates to the €1.2 million that was paid out in respect of the Smith v. Meade case. That case arose because, effectively, the wrong transposing of a directive on car insurance occurred. Who within the Department has been held accountable for that failure? If the Exchequer is down just short of €1.2 million due to that mistake, have lessons been learned? If so, what lessons have been learned?