Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

In terms of a good understanding of the cost base for the provision of the service, the 1975 agreement is out of date. There are certain aspects of it for which we never got an explanation, including, for instance, why a 13% add-on for management costs was ever appropriate. Part of the recommendation there was that there needs to be a better understanding of what makes up that charge, why it should be what it is and so on. Work has been done over the past number of years to try to get a better fix on the costs. We noted that the assurance that was being given on the account that is produced under the 1975 agreement was an assurance that the account was produced in the manner required under that agreement. It was not an assurance that this is an account of the cost of the service, which is what the Department is moving towards.