Professor Tom Collins:

The board has had a presentation from the head of research at the organisation. The organisation is involved in a barrier mitigation programme and is about to appoint 12 new staff with a full programme of €1 million annually up to 2027 on barrier mitigation as part of a €50 million to €100 million capital programme. A barrier assessment programme is ongoing and it is about to be upgraded or ratcheted up in its intensity. The programme has been led by Dr. Cathal Gallagher, who is head of research and development at the organisation, and its urgency is almost self-evident. It is probably going to be set up within months and the new barrier mitigation endeavour will then get under way. I can, again, provide more details on the programme to the committee via the person in charge of it. In any event, based on the assessment work done by IFI, it is about to move into the beginning of a new phase of barrier removals.