John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to clarify a couple of things I have heard today and put them in the context of the meeting because they might have been lost in the course of the exchanges here. The committee wanted to get the detail of this arrangement some time ago, in 2022. We sought the attendance of various members of Government, Secretaries General and so on. We received some written submissions which have been helpful to our understanding of what went on. Mr. Watt, you decided at the time that you would not attend. You refused to come before the committee. For the record, the committee then forced to, agreed to, seek compellability and to insist through this means that you would attend and give evidence as a witness before the committee.