Mr. Ciarán Breen:

Let me give an example. A doctor may not have properly sought the consent of a patient; that is a breach of duty, but with regard to the injury that actually occurred, a court could find the patient would have had the surgery in any event and that the complication - a known complication - might have occurred even if the doctor had obtained the consent of the patient. We had such a case a number of years ago which went the whole way to the Supreme Court which found exactly that point, that although there had been a breach of duty, it had not led to the actual damage caused - natural damage that had occurred as a result of the procedure. It is a legal concept which is based almost entirely on medical expert evidence.