Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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I have a final question. There will be pressure from the likes of me and everybody on this committee. Nobody likes to see €1.5 billion sitting around and not working for the taxpayer. The State is a long time in responding to the external review that was in 2018, notwithstanding the fact a new Department has been formed, and I accept it takes longer to respond. The fourth recommendation related to outcome-based performance metric on the spending, and particularly, with the Department, what metrics it applies to the money that is paid out from the NTF and how to assess the grantee bodies that get the money paid out from the NTF. There will be pressure from politicians, including the likes of myself, who will say, "Here is money, go spend it." There is a temptation there to spend it badly if the Department is under that pressure. What types of gateways and performance metrics are there? This is the one area of the recommendations that apparently the Department has not come back on strongly enough as yet, even if there is work ongoing. Will Mr. Beausang elaborate on the work the Department is doing to ensure the money being spent is being spent well?