Mr. Niall Byrne:

We take this seriously. It should not have happened. We will definitely be at pains never to allow this to happen again, by double-checking versions before they are finalised, published and laid. I have been director since 24 January. I can say definitively that I am confident, speaking as director, that neither my colleagues in the RTB, who are all public servants themselves and work to high standards, relevant codes of conduct etc., nor I would have deliberately taken any steps to remove a sentence from a document that had been finalised.