Dr. Ambrose McLoughlin:

I assure the Senator I have huge respect and regard for the Office of the Ombudsman. I refer not only to the current occupant but also to her predecessors with whom I also worked.

The Senator raised the issue of redress schemes. They are extraordinarily difficult to design because of legal constraints. Once litigation is initiated, everybody is effectively asked to withdraw from it to buy into such a scheme. This litigation is complicated because we are dealing with estates and not necessarily individuals. People are seeking different reliefs and it is difficult to get a consensus because people are, ultimately, looking for monetary compensation. The Secretary General has to take advice on how to deal with that. However, I do not exclude the possibility of considering redress schemes to address future issues in other circumstances. Where litigation has commenced, it is difficult to-----