Thank you, Madam Chair.
I do not want to be defending managers, but earlier I said that there's obviously a lack of financial planning. I believe that it is because of this lack of financial planning that some people were hired temporarily or casually, at least this was the case in the past. There's uncertainty surrounding how long funds will last. Given the fact that programs and initiatives had to be set up, people were hired on a part-time basis in the hope that later they could be hired permanently through a competition. I'm not defending managers, but I believe that there must be, first and foremost, some sensible financial planning and integration.
You carried out a statistical study on the length of the staffing process within the public service, which was reported to us in May 2006. According to a survey conducted on the appointment process, between January 2000 and December 2003, the average length of a competition for a permanent position was 22.8 weeks and the median duration was 17.3 weeks. It seems to me that the average time it took to staff a permanent position was rather long.
Ms. Barrados, has progress been made since then? Where are we now in terms of execution time?