Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú:

We recognise the challenge and the difficulty. The change we have implemented on foot of our own review and the various audits to which I have referred is to integrate information from the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Protection to provide that the assessment of outcomes is not primarily survey based. We can get the full information by looking at pps numbers to see if people are in employment or receiving something from the Department of Social Protection. If there is no record, it may be that the person has departed from the labour force completely, is not in receipt of a welfare payment and is not making a Revenue return. He or she may have emigrated. The information we have provided to the committee sets out the various data sources we use in that context.

We made a call arising from the Comptroller and Auditor General's report about the extent to which we would go back to get information. We carried out a detailed examination and decided to include construction workers. We were not sure we could do so, but made a big push to ensure we included them in the Department of Social Protection and Revenue information to the greatest extent possible. We have done it with the construction workers and are doing it with TalkTalk. We will operate on that basis going forward.