David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Department is saying that it had robust legal defence, but there is no robust legal defence. It is saying that these are "too risky" and that at all costs settle before it gets to discovery, and the Department did settle on unpalatable terms. This means that some people would be paid more to ensure that others would be paid nothing. This seems to me to be the logic.