Mr. Ger Deering:

Absolutely. It is worth mentioning also that the usual representation role here is a little awkward because complainants give us a lot of confidential information. It might be medical records, their bank accounts or their visa card information. Sometimes a politician will write to us making representations on their behalf. We have to be very careful and must ask them to get the person's permission when really all they might want to know is how long the process will take or how it is progressing. It is something on which we could do some work with the House. It is slightly different from the normal representation. We can only communicate with one person so it is either the complainant or their representative. I notice when politicians write to us, they do not necessarily want to step into that representational role. They are just wondering how long the process will take.