Mr. Patrick Dorgan:

In the paper we submitted on the last occasion we identified as one of the advantages of the proposed system that it does not require a significant layer of legislative involvement. There are elements such as, for example, digital signatures, which will require changes to statutory instruments. One of the points of agreement which we very quickly reached with the Irish Banking Federation was mandating use. We are very interested to hear that this had been a major worry for the bankers. It is one we share. It was also shared by our proposed partners, Teranet, because the big question is if we build it, will they come? All the stakeholders may return to the committee to say they would like an Act or something to say that there is now a working system and we want to switch off the old system in six months’ time. If legislative interference was needed for that, we would be very grateful for that assistance.