Ms Colette Drinan:

The first thing to point out about vacancies is that there is a turn in where they arise and we are running active competitions. It is not a question of vacancies sitting in particular areas that are not filled. The vacancies are distributed. Deputy Murphy is right about the statutory audit work. A programme is in place and it has to be delivered. The consequence of vacancies in that area would impact on the timeliness of the delivery of the financial audit. We look at how to manage that. We are keenly aware of the need to produce the financial statements and get certification as soon as possible. The area that probably tends to suffer is more on the performance audit side.