Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Okay. Mr. Watt went on to say in the next paragraph of his statement, although the statement he read out is somewhat different to the one he provided to us, that:

The Department ... and the HSE originally appealed these decisions to the High Court, but the appeal was subsequently withdrawn ... The decision to withdraw this appeal did not change the position of the Department [and the HSE] that voluntary contributions did not come within the definition.

Why then was the decision taken to withdraw the appeals?