Mr. Kevin McCarthy:

One thing we need to look at is the criteria that are laid down in the disbursement schemes themselves and whether their effect is too narrow. We certainly need to look at the administrative procedures surrounding the operation of the scheme and the degree of complexity that is involved for Departments. We will need to look at the ongoing monitoring of spend and delivery, and the timelines and project plans surrounding measures that are put forward. We need to hold Departments to account to a greater extent in respect of their position in this regard. As I said, the allocations have not been time-bound, there has not been a sunset clause in place where measures enter into an action plan and there has not been a proactive approach to decommitting funding that is not used in order to allow it to be redeployed for other uses within the scheme. These are all some of the things we need to address-----