Mr. Peter Finnegan:

That is a very good question. The first thing I would do is wish the new person well. I would say to them what a privilege it is to hold the job of Clerk of the Dáil. When you go back, there have only been six or seven clerks since the foundation of the State and it is an immense honour to have the privilege of holding the job.

I would say to my successor that it is a very demanding job but it is hugely rewarding, enjoyable and important. In terms of the specific remit of this committee, I would be saying to the person that one of the big things is the Accounting Officer functions. We have spoken about ICT, etc., like that and, over recent years, Mr. Errity and I, with others, including Mr. Doyle, have paid very close attention to expenditure. You need to be in there looking at what the spend is, managing that and asking questions. That is the type of advice I would be giving my successor.