David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to speak about the letter Mr. Watt sent to Trinity. I want to reflect accurately and fairly his characterisation of the process regarding the letter. It is his contention that, while the letter does not read "subject to approval", the funding element of €2 million would have needed approval and the letter was setting out the bones of the objective in terms of funding this project. From his earlier testimony, additional funding would have been made available to the Health Research Board to fund the post.

It was not coming from the board's existing budget. Any spending by it would have come from additional funding, which would have been subject to the relevant and proper approval processes, including the Estimates process. Is that a fair characterisation?