Mr. Peter Boland:

Okay. We have had discussions with the Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice and Equality. Our understanding is that the unit could be established without any legislation. We understand that the facilities and resources are available to get it up and running almost immediately. We would be in favour of that. The UK model on which the new unit would be based is the similar unit within the City of London police. That unit is funded by the insurance industry, which is what is proposed here. Our understanding is that it seems there are no obstacles to setting this up.

The Senator asked what percentage of claims might be fraudulent, exaggerated or misleading. A solicitor from Limerick suggested in an article in the Limerick Leaderin January that the relevant percentage is 8%. That would be in line with the experience in Europe, where a figure of between 8% and 10% is normally given for claims that are fraudulent or - more substantially - exaggerated or misleading. Mr. Sinclair has an insight into this matter.