Dr. Fergal Lynch:

I do not think that they conflict, with respect, Chairman. It was described as a monopoly, but one of the big concerns we have is a complete absence of regulation of the current system. Whether it is a monopoly in terms of a single provider, which is a private provider, or whether we were in a position to set up a public provider, the same charge could perhaps be levelled, that the only GAL service that will be available in the future is under this body. I am not sure I accept the idea that it is a monopoly. Yes, it is a provider, but with good reason, and unless people strongly disagree, I think there is a strong argument for a single provider of this service, rather than allowing the current situation to continue, or rather than allowing, for example, five or six different firms or providers to provide this. The big value of this is economies of scale.