Ms Caroline O'Loughlin:

I will make a couple of points on that. The Chair asked if we audit. As Dr. Moran has said, the Departments must retain ownership. When they appear before the committees, they cannot say that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform told them to pick those metrics. They know their work best and they can tell where the priorities are. The Chairman asked if we audit them. We provide a lot of guidance within the performance budgeting the division and within the Vote section. Within the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform there is a dedicated Vote section for each Department. We provide as much guidance as we can but ultimately the Departments must retain ownership so they are answerable on those.