Mr. Ruairí de Búrca:

The Department historically funded Bóthar. We have no evidence to suggest that the funding that we provided was used in any way improperly. In 2016 and 2017, we raised a number of questions regarding Bóthar's corporate structures. It did not provide us with satisfactory answers. On that basis, we decided in 2018 not to agree to a request for additional funding because it had not progressed the governance changes that we asked for. Without wanting to go into any area which may be the subject of an investigation, this showed the robustness of our controls and how we look at and assess the corporate structures of organisations that we fund. We took the best decision we could at the time. We have regular contact with the Charities Regulator which is in some ways a new operator. The Charities Regulator conducted its own investigation which is currently suspended pending other actions. We are at advanced stages of negotiating a memorandum of understanding between Irish Aid and the Charities Regulator, which will give us additional comfort in the future. We will be able to take advantage of changes in the past year to the rules and oversight role of the Charities Regulator.