Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)

Surely the Department, in signing off a severance package, would have had to consider why a liability arose as a result of a fixed-term contract.

I am saying that as a general point. Our job is only to investigate why public money is being spent. I am asking a very basic question. Why did we decide to spend public money on this? I think the answer should be “The rationale is X, Y and Z”. It is not a complicated question.