Ms Rebecca Chapman:

The Deputy will appreciate that much of the work of the Department pivoted towards Brexit once the referendum result was known. One could make the argument that a lot of HR resources were redirected towards that. What we can claim for under the Brexit adjustment reserve, BAR, regulation, is strictly defined. We are still working on that calculation with our colleagues in the Department of public expenditure and reform, with a view to ascertaining how much can be claimed back for the State from those staff costs. That will be an ongoing process. The first claim for the BAR will go from our colleagues in the Department of public expenditure and reform in September next year so we will be working on this for the next year to ensure it stands up to all the audit scrutiny it will be subjected to over the coming years.