Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for not being in the Chamber for the entirety of the discussion, but I was following proceedings on screen. I compliment the legal experts on the clarity with which they have addressed the issues. What is the position when there is a legal challenge to a particular practice, either administrative or in medicine, for example, which has become, in the absence of legislation, customary practice over a period of time? Is the lack of legislation a weakness in such cases and, by the same token, is the existence of legislation a strength? I am asking this apropos of the question raised by doctors.