Ms Patricia McCaffrey:

First, to touch on the payroll for 2022, the Deputy will see that pension costs between 2021 and 2022 increased by €3.5 million. That contributes to that cost. The remaining increase in the staffing costs during 2022 relates to payments as a result of the Building Momentum pay agreement. That is approximately €1 million of those costs during 2022.

That would account for the increase in the payroll costs between 2021 and 2022.

On the deficit for the year increasing from €11,000 to €3 million, within the financial year 2022 we account for accruals, pre-payments and predominantly provision movements. Our provision movements relate to claims on the body for potential incidents and accidents on our waterways. The State Claims Agency handles the majority of our cases in respect of those claims and provides us with an annual report.