Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The idea I want to impart to the public, in case there is a wrong impression going out that 97% of cases do not involve court proceedings, is that 100% involve essentially the employment of a solicitor to start a legal process. Can Mr. Breen break this down for us? Given that 100% start with legal representation and only 3% end up in court, can he explain where the other ones are dealt with? The famous phrase the people understand is "the steps of the court". Are most of the case done at that stage? By then, the plaintiff has gone right through the whole pain and anguish and toing and froing between senior counsel, only to stop a minute short of going into the courtroom. Can Mr. Breen talk us through where each of the cases the State Claims Agency settles each year get finished in a process because there is a misunderstanding among lay-people that 97% of cases do not involve legal proceedings?