Mr. Conor O'Neill:

To add briefly to that, it is related to something we mentioned earlier. On the timing question, it is reasonable that many members here said urgently, because it is not a totally new issue. It was flagged as far back as November.

I really do hope that this can come and I hope the committee can re-engage on the question when the advice is provided. The key thing I would like to say is that the Attorney General's advice is not this kind of yes-no definitive stop or go moment and one could even argue the other side of the case that does not necessarily favour us. The advice that is in the public domain that gave the green light for goods is qualified. It says that there is an arguable case either side here that is, as the Tánaiste correctly describes, a narrow pathway but it is possible and it is doable if it is a political priority for the Government and there is a good case that we can get it right. That is not absolutely slam-dunk, unqualified advice to just crack on with goods and it will definitely be fine. This is something that we would have to be willing to argue and justify. Any advice that comes in the next weeks or months, hopefully not months, will also be qualified. It will set out a view on the services issue. I hope it will refer to the materials that have been published. It will essentially ultimately leave the choice to the Government. It will give the balance of the evidence but at the end of the day it is a political choice of do we want to go and test it or not. That is the key thing.