15. Ms Egan asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister to give an update on the appointment of a permanent secretary to the Executive Office. (AQO 554/22-27)

The head of the Civil Service launched an external recruitment exercise to fill vacancies in two permanent secretary roles in December 2023. The competition produced two successful candidates. One of the successful candidates, Mr Ian Snowden, was appointed to the Department for the Economy post on 28 March 2024.

The Executive Office post remains vacant, however. The next step is that the TEO permanent secretary role will be filled on an interim basis through an internal temporary promotion opportunity.

We now move to topical questions.