Mr. Colin Menton:

Absolutely. Going back to the Chairman's initial question to us about the earlier contributions and the committee's earlier sessions, we were very taken with that issue and that dimension to this also, and we have been giving it some thought. It may be of interest to be aware that Transparency International Ireland is planning a pilot service around this and we will be looking with great interest at that in terms of it maybe helping to inform us as to how we might plan some future initiatives in this area.

There are a couple of dimensions to this we must be a little bit careful about. One is about ensuring the provision of services in and of itself, or an individual being seen to be availing of them, does not give rise to unintended consequences for that individual or cause him or her to be seen in a particular way that might be adverse to him or her. I was quite struck by some of the contributions in the earlier sessions where witnesses talked about the personal impact on individuals when what they have done comes to light and what they have tried to bring to light. We want to ensure whatever might be contemplated in this area does not somehow rebound on them in a bad way, even though our motives might be the right ones, if the Deputy understands me. We are thinking about this and again, we are are very open to thoughts or suggestions around it. Clearly one can see, as highlighted in the committee's earlier sessions, the issue that does need to be addressed.