Robert Watt is a senior member of the Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland and a former economist.
[2][3][4] After graduating from UCD, Watt worked briefly at IDA Ireland before joining the Department of Finance in 1993.
Watt returned to the civil service in 2008, when he was made Assistant Secretary General at the Department of Finance.
In 2011, he was appointed by Brendan Howlin as the first Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
[5][6][7][8][1][3][4] Watt previously applied for the role of Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland but was unsuccessful.