Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The committee will now consider the public service performance report with officials from the Department of Social Protection. From the Department, I welcome: Mr. Niall Egan, assistant secretary general of corporate affairs; Mr. Alan Flynn, principal officer for budget and estimates; Ms Michelle Reilly, principal officer in the Department’s statistics unit; and Mr. Hugh Cronin, assistant principal in the budget and estimates unit.

I invite Mr Egan to make his opening statement.