Mr. Ken Murphy:

I hope I was clear in my earlier comment that the unfortunate headline relating to an article in The Irish Timessuggested that was a view of the Law Society. It is not our view. We are not suggesting and have no evidence to support a suggestion that this was deliberate. It was the fog of war and something that was inherent at the time. There was a time when lawyers, who might be expected to be able to more easily to distinguish law from guidance than lay people are, were asking me whether certain things were laws, regulators, guidelines or just the opinion of a Government spokesperson. We are not being retrospectively critical of what happened. Rather, we are saying there may be lessons to be learned for any future circumstances similar to these. It is to be hoped that we will never have to face such circumstances. These circumstances are unprecedented in the history of the State. We are saying that in future communications, greater emphasis should be placed on distinguishing what is law, with sanction attached to it for breach, and what is not law but, rather, guidance.