Mr. Mark Griffin:

No, the INTERREG III programme was closed out and got a clean bill of health, other than in respect of the Bytel project. It is interesting to note that the regulation which succeeded the INTERREG III programme - for some reason the Commission called it INTERREG IV - was much clearer in respect of the assignment of responsibilities between Departments when it came to cross-Border projects. If that specific arrangement had been in place when Bytel was being progressed as a project, we might not have had these types of projects.

We are involved in another project, the Kelvin project, which was referenced in passing in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report. This relates to the provision of fibre infrastructure in Northern Ireland and an Atlantic fibre link coming into Portrush by Hibernia Atlantic. It got a clean bill of health. We have also had an internal audit report on another cross-Border project, the Irish-Scottish Links on Energy Study or ISLES project, in which all the issues flagged in the Bytel project in terms of the letter of offer, the informal nature of the communication, the lack of steering groups and project controls needed for these types of projects were considered. We got a clean bill of health on that. I would like to think that the Bytel project was an exception.