Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

I have read it. Obviously, the gentleman who wrote it is making reasonable points about issues that need to be considered. However, while I am the auditor of the authority that will oversee the management of the fund in question, the placing of contracts and so on, I will not really be in a position to form a view and report to the committee until after the first set of financial statements are presented. That is some way off as the authority has not yet been established.

While matters are progressing on an administrative basis, any expenses associated with the preparation of a tender and so on are, as I understand it, being handled by the Department of Social Protection. Therefore, this is a matter the Deputy might raise with that Department when those expenses are in. I do not believe any funding was incurred in 2023 because there was not a subhead for it. In 2024, which I will report on in September, there may have been expenditure that comes within the committee's remit. It is a huge endeavour to put this system in place and it probably is legitimate for the Deputy to be asking about how the State's interests are to be protected and value for money achieved in this regard.