Mr. Lorcan O'Connor:

I will explain the qualifying criteria for someone who wishes to become a PIP. At the outset, we set out what we believed to be important for practitioners. We set out the requisite skill sets for somebody to become a PIP. We identified the qualifications, experience and skills required. If a person already had a base level of legal or accounting qualifications, he or she was higher up the ladder than others without such qualifications. We also identified other skill sets such as the ability to negotiate, given that the person concerned would ultimately be trying to reach a voluntary arrangement between parties, and the ability to deal with people in what could often be very distressing situations. Through our regulations we set out what somebody had to be able to bring to the table to be a practitioner. Qualifications and experience are set out, as are other requirements with regard to professional indemnity insurance, having client accounts which were clearly separate from the accounts of the firm or individual and various other matters one would typically expect to find in an area which was regulated. We also required anyone who would be a PIP or an approved intermediary to attend a course-----