Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for the comprehensive opening statements, which are certainly food for thought. Access to justice begins long before anyone steps into a courtroom. I thank them for bringing that to my attention and making us reflect on it.

Page 3 of the CLM presentation, set outs the Pringle report from 1977, which has not been implemented, in bullet points referring to the intimidation of the legal world, inaccessibility of legal services and so on. They could apply to any public body, given my experience as a councillor for many years. When I think of that fear of retribution, I think of making complaints to the health services or I think of housing and local authorities. Whether it is accurate, it is certainly the perception. Those bullet points could apply to any public body, unfortunately.

We come back to the strategic model that is empowering and enabling, or a very specific model trying to sort out problems after they have arisen. That is the kernel and it is where Governments baulk because, if we take the strategic model, they think it is going to open up the floodgates, when the reality is it will probably save money in the long run. Is that not the challenge? The World Bank has examined the report to which the witnesses have referred us. It is not an easy read and I would recommend it be written in a different way because the message will be lost, other than us quoting two or three lines from it. It is not an easy report to read. It is certainly more effective to have a proper service. Is it not the challenge to get Governments to realise-----