Mr. Micheál P. O'Higgins:

We agree with what Ms Lucey and Ms Barry have suggested for FLAC. A point that bears mentioning is that one advantage of not doing things in secret and providing an oral hearing, even if it is streamlined, informal and, I hope, cost effective, is there is tremendous value in litigants feeling they have had their day in court, whether that is full court, quasi-tribunal or whatever shape it takes. There is a difficult to calculate advantage and positive element to litigants feeling they have had their day in court with barristers standing up for them and telling the judge there was a wrong done. Even if they lose the case they come out of court feeling that somebody advocated for them. These positive benefits will follow a transparent court or quasi-court hearing. They will not follow if it is done in secret in an unnamed office purely on paper. This is something else we believe should be borne in mind.