Mr. Robert Watt:

We had brief discussions in August 2021. A discussion took place between then Secretary General, Martin Fraser and Dr. Holohan at that time and I was involved with Dr. Holohan and Mr. Fraser separately on that. In those discussions Dr. Holohan indicated that he wanted to leave the service and that he was thinking about some role and we were supportive of that, given his track record of public service and what he had done for the State. Mr. Fraser was particularly supportive and I was supportive of it. The matter was parked then because, as the Deputy may recall, the Omicron variant kicked off so Dr. Holohan was back as Chief Medical Officer, CMO, in the Department and we were working during the autumn and early into 2022. The issue then arose when we had a calmer period and Dr. Holohan reignited his interest and started having conversations on what he might do and we were supportive of that.