Mr. Patrick O'Connor:

My apologies. The members of the tribunal were appointed on 1 August. There are five, as set out in the Act. We met informally last week. I did not want to presume anything as I am only chairman designate and until I have been formally appointed, it would be presumptuous in the extreme to do too much but the tribunal has been established so we will have to get up and running. There is no point in waiting for the process to be fully completed before we have a meeting. We discussed the broad parameters and principles of how we might run a hearing and what our rules and procedures will be. I have drafted a set of rules, which will be circulated to all other members with a request for comments. It will then go back to the Department for the approval of the Minister. I want to keep it as simple as possible so that it is not too legalistic.