Mr. Ciarán Breen:

Yes, both parties are. There are very definite time limits for the making of the claim and what one asks the defendant to do. One must set out what the nature of one's claim is and give expert evidence to support it. As a defendant, one must do exactly the same - come back within a prescribed period of time and set out what one is admitting to and not admitting to. The whole idea of this is that instead of everything being at issue as it is currently, one knows very well at the end of the day what is at issue between the parties. One of the things it introduces as well is that the experts on both sides can meet and produce a joint report to say what it is they are actually disagreeing on and what they have agreed on. The idea of it is to make the system efficient and upfront.