Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. To refer back to the opening statement of the Comptroller and Auditor General, he issued a clear audit opinion for the 2021 accounts but drew attention to:

... a note in the account that discloses payment of a fine to the European Commission arising from a judgement [relating to Derrybrien in Galway] of the European Court of Justice in November 2019. The case concerned Ireland’s failure to ensure that a retrospective environmental impact assessment was carried out in respect of a wind farm constructed in County Galway.

The Comptroller and Auditor General stated that a lump sum of €5 million was paid in 2020, plus a daily fine of €15,000 and legal costs. At the outset, €15,000 per day is a phenomenal amount of money to be paying. I note the 2022 figures are not included here but I am sure the witnesses have them to hand. To date, how much has been spent on this fine? I ask the witnesses to leave out legal costs for now. We will take that as included. I suspect it is approximately €22 million, or in excess thereof. I ask the witnesses to clarify the position in that regard.