Mr. Tony O'Brien:

I will take two of the questions and ask Mr. Lynch to respond to the third.

This case was not defended by the State. There was no defence. To use the technical term, the case was struck out and a settlement was reached with the laboratory, not the State. As I understand it, the efforts of the State Claims Agency were very much aimed at facilitating a settlement.

Since the question has been asked, not by the Deputy but in the wider public debate, I can confirm that at no point did the State Claims Agency seek a confidentiality agreement on this matter. On its behalf, I want to put that into the public space because it is important.