Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

I remind the committee that a number of years ago - I think in 2015 - I issued a special report on severance payments in public sector bodies.

I did that because I had seen a number of situations where, if you like, the standard procedures in bodies that I audit had not actually been followed. One of the things I tried to do there was to set out a good practice around severance payments, particularly other than in a severance scheme where the conditions would be standard and would be applied in a standard way. Where there was involvement in a severance package, there would be legal advice that confidentiality clauses would be subject to such disclosures as were required by law and things like co-operation with inquiries after cessation of employment.