Mr. Tom Flynn:

We could be looking at several years. We have to bear in mind that the wording around directly or materially affected will probably be challenged in some proceedings. What would happen then is that, because that issue is there, the courts people may apply to have their cases in other decisions stayed. There may potentially be references to the Court of Justice of the European Union, which could take the best part of two years, most likely a year and a half. Then the answer comes, which may or may not resolve the issue entirely, and then there would be further litigation up through the courts. We could be looking at a three-year timeframe where lots of litigation will surround these issues. That is the difficulty when you introduce a new statutory provision with new wording; you tend to get litigation trying to determine what that statutory provision means. We have to consider the pros of introducing a new provision as against losing the certainty of statutory provisions that are well-established and the meaning and interpretation of which has been determined by the superior courts.