Professor Noel Whelan:

No. As far as we are concerned the issue remains for us a matter of law, as Mr. O'Brien stated. He was quite correct in drawing to our attention - we knew it anyway - that we must not breach individual contracts of employment. That is the bottom line. We must not do so. As far as we are concerned, we are trying to reach compliance, as seen by the HSE, as fast as possible while preserving - or at least acknowledging in a legal sense - the individual contracts of employment.