Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

The process within the Department to decide on this figure seems to be akin to something written on the back of an envelope. An international firm or a recruitment organisation seeking to put forward a package to select individuals who are the best people to do the job might go a little bit beyond a back of an envelope calculation with regard to the best way to attract those individuals. Many people will find it shocking that this figure was literally plucked out of the air.

If any members of this committee were in ministerial roles, I would expect them to have a far better foundation in international recruitment statistics and metrics to allow them greater understanding regarding what figure to select. It is mind-blowing that the figure was plucked out of the air in this situation. It was reported that the information was given to the Cabinet orally and there is no paper trail. Is that correct?