Mr. Alan Brecknell:

I completely agree with Ms Urwin. Maybe I do not understand the workings of parliament, government and whatever but I think it is important that the urgency of this issue be made known. The Department of Justice knows it well and truly after the meeting we had on Monday. I know the Attorney General's office is an independent office, etc., but in some way the urgency of this decision needs to be transferred to that office. That is my thinking. I would hate to see the Department of Justice do what it said it will do and get a letter to the Attorney General by the end of this week or early next week and it then sits in an in tray for three months, six months or whatever. I do not know how that works but my call would be that anything possible be done to ensure the Attorney General is aware of how important this is. It is not just a piece of legal advice he has to look at and give, but something that affects people's lives daily and, as Deputy Tóibín pointed out, people are in the latter years of their lives. If anything can be done along those lines, that would be very helpful.