John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I suppose the point I am getting at is there was a standard operating procedure, which was approved by Government in 2011 and 2021, and it seems to cover what has been maybe mischaracterised as an open-ended secondment. The open-ended secondment, therefore, is actual practice if a Secretary General has reached the end of his or her Secretary General term in advance of retirement. There is a procedure in place. The language says they will at the end of their term be offered an alternative position in the Civil Service, public service or an international institution, which covers Trinity College Dublin. Therefore, there was a structure in place by precedence.