Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I just wondered if that was a slight contradiction. I will come back to what Deputy Chambers was speaking about earlier - no foal, no fee - which is a term that one would often hear.

The problem here is more one of regulation than whether it should be a practice that we need. I refer to circumstances where a person with a strong case, wherever that might be, reaches an agreement with a legal practitioner that he or she will not be charged anything if the case is not won. There is confidence in that situation that a win is going to happen. The person in that case is not going to be looking closely at the level of charges because someone else is going to be paying them. That is what people feel is the case. It may well be an insurance company that ends up paying. Is there a requirement for tighter regulations in that respect? I do not think it is a practice that should be banned or barred. It is a practice that may well, as the Chairman said, open up a legal avenue to somebody who would not otherwise have the necessary resources and would be afraid of entering the legal process. We all hear the scare stories. In those circumstances, regulation is the issue. Is there regulation in this area or what degree of regulation can be brought to bear?