Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was just trying to work out the percentage of County Down people who make up this committee meeting. I think it is probably the highest ever in an Oireachtas committee.

I have two follow-up questions. I may have missed it if the witness gave a specific response to Deputy Berry's question about primary radar. This was one of the 38 early actions. In the March update, reference was made to a planning team having been established, research having been commenced and further foreign visits planned for 2023. That does not sound like early action in terms of delivery. As Deputy Berry said, primary radar is considered imperative by members of this committee and anybody looking on.

I have a broad question on the high-level action plan and the responses of the Government to the 130 recommendations. Some 103 of the recommendations were either accepted, which means accepted for implementation, or accepted in principle. The language used in this regard is: "This recommendation is accepted in principle, but further consideration is required on the optimal approach to meeting the intent of the Commission." Will the witnesses clarify what the phrase "accepted in principle" means in practice? That is in comparison with the 17 actions determined to require further evaluation in respect of which the Government stated, "This recommendation is desirable. Further evaluation is required with key stakeholders [etc.]". Will the witnesses distinguish between the terms "further evaluation" and "accepted in principle" in the context of what they might mean for the implementation of the recommendations? Regarding a further ten recommendations, the response was: "It is proposed to revert to Government at a later stage with regard to this recommendation." The cynic in me is of the view that this is a fancy way of saying it is not accepted. Perhaps the witnesses will respond to my cynicism by stating that I have it wrong. Regarding those final ten recommendations, am I correct in saying that there is no plan to progress them at all?