Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I referred to the point made by the witnesses in page 2 of their submission about the adequacy of the State's legislative framework and its response to the pandemic. The submission sets out a number of bullet points in that regard. I ask Ms Gibney to expand on that. Before she comes back in, I want to turn to FLAC because I am conscious of my own time. I apologise for not having more time to discuss the various submissions.

I remind Ms Barry and Mr. Bowes that the impact of the restriction on court sittings was discussed in a previous session of the committee earlier today. I compliment FLAC on the very substantial submission it made to the committee. It is greatly appreciated and there is a lot of information in it for all of us to digest. I ask the witnesses to comment on the impact that delays in court sittings and trials are going to have on their own work.

While the clock is in my favour, I would like to put a question to Mr. Herrick and Ms Ansbro of the ICCL. They commented in a previous submission about the response being balance-necessary, and the resources being in place. If we were to face a second wave here in Ireland, how would the witnesses suggest that the State respond differently from the way it did, given the short period we may have between now and if that were to happen? If the witnesses would not mind answering, I would greatly appreciate it.