Mr. Niall Burgess:

The meeting which I had with Katherine Zappone was primarily on the tasking. Again, the tasking that was agreed and finalised was prepared wholly by the Department. There was one amendment, I should say, to the arrangements as a result of my meeting with Katherine Zappone, and that was on the duration of the mandate. She proposed that a two-year mandate would allow more time for the mandate to establish itself, to build up a network and to show results. I felt that was a reasonable point and I proposed that to the Minister, but the tasking as agreed was wholly prepared by the Department.

The work had begun on the development of a contract before the Government meeting and had continued in the days after the Government meeting. There are exchanges with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Although we had delegated authority to create this position, we were in touch with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform around ensuring best practice in the development of the contract. That contract was never finalised because Katherine Zappone withdrew before anything could be put to her and signed.