Mr. Jeremy Godfrey:

One of the models in the directive is legal aid, as the Deputy noted. In any legal aid, the funding body has to judge whether the case meets the criteria and has a reasonable prospect of success and so forth. That is one possible model but there is obviously a policy issue with public funding of that nature. There are models that enable third parties to fund litigation and recover the costs of the funding if the litigation is won.

We would be cautious about models where funders get a percentage of the damages awarded. Then it becomes a more entrepreneurial thing and we slide into the American-style system. The CCPC has long had concerns about the cost of litigation in Ireland and how a litigation culture and a "compo" culture can increase the cost of doing business, which, ultimately, does not serve consumers' interests. The issues surrounding how to reform litigation funding in a way that strikes an appropriate balance are important but they are for the Department of Justice rather than for us.