Mr. Micheál P. O'Higgins:

I do not have the figures. We do not envisage that there would be an avalanche of such claims, but it is difficult to predict with any degree of accuracy. There has been one guide to indicate that it is a significant systemic problem, as there have been a number of successful claims in the European Court of Human Rights, before the convention. Ireland held up its hands in many of these cases and stated, "We are terribly sorry for the delay. We are going to improve the position and get it sorted". In the most recent one, as we have tracked in the paper, that was precisely the approach taken. The court in Strasbourg stated that was not good enough as we had been saying this for four years. It was acknowledged by Ireland that it had been in violation of Article 13 for a long time in giving an effective remedy to citizens. This is a timely initiative that we, respectfully, suggest should be refocused.