Dr. Fergal Lynch:

Our internal control mechanisms were very conscious of this as an issue right from the beginning when the Department was set up in 2011. As the Comptroller and Auditor General said, however, the service tended to operate under the radar in terms of identifying it as a separate item of expenditure. It really came to the surface more sharply when we carved out the expenditure for children and youth affairs into a separate Vote. I accept everything Deputy Connolly said. It was extremely unsatisfactory. All I can say now is that we are working to address the issue as rapidly as possible. It is a complex system and it will take some time but we are working our way through it.