Mr. Simon McGarr:

She received a letter in, I believe, June 2016. I wrote my first letters in September or October 2016 and I eventually received an answer just before Christmas 2017 from the Chief State Solicitor's office. During most of that time I was attempting to make contact and receiving no response whatsoever. It was only in the September to Christmas period that I was receiving holding responses. My client did not suffer any financial loss. She was not penalised despite a letter having gone out telling her that would be one of the consequences if she did not attend and that it was necessary to do so. However, there were many other people who received letters with identical wording and they will not have known who to contact in order to try to advance the question, "What is the legal basis on which this is being done?"

From my point of view, when I hear that the Department has issued 3 million public services cards, that says to me, if I am correct in my legal assessment on the lack of compliance with European law, that we have a 3 million person contingent liability. More important, we have 3 million people who have been told to go and get a card, and they have been told to do it under varying wordings and letters inviting them to attend to get a card. However, none of those wordings has advanced any legal basis for that and a number of those wordings that were sent to people asserted there was such a legal basis and a requirement. That is very concerning in terms of the way the Department addresses this.

I have probably spoken longer than I should have. My apologies to the committee and my thanks to the members for their patience. Hopefully, they have questions that I, Dr. O'Rourke or Mr. Herrick will be able to help them with.