Ms Marie-Claire Maney:

Currently, we have 33 staff, which includes the commissioners and me. There are four and a half commissioners, which, as the Deputy can appreciate, is just not feasible in terms of getting through the workload of 2,900 cases. We have 28 administrative staff currently. The Deputy's question is a difficult one. I would like to have another five members of staff. As we have moved towards holding remote hearings, we have found that we need more support staff to support more hearings, because more hearings can be held remotely. We have had to invest in more clerical officers who run the IT side of the remote hearings.

However, the biggest issue we have is on the commissioner side. That is why I have proposed to the Department of Finance the introduction of a different structure in respect of the commissioners. I would like to see ten to 12 commissioners. That would give us a chance to cover the case load. There is no point in public officials coming to the Committee of Public Accounts and saying that we do not need more resources. I do not think it would cost an awful lot more money because we are going to stratify the case base to deal with cases at different levels, and have commissioners at different levels and salary grades commensurate with the complexity of the cases.

The main issue we have is trying to get through the backlog of cases. We have made great strides and we have provided the numbers on that to the committee. I would like to get a manageable number. We have 1,500 cases every year. I would like to be dealing only with cases dating back six months and the current workload.

That is what we are aiming for. Perhaps 500 to 1,500 would be what I would envisage as a good, efficient body. I am sorry for taking my time to get to that point.