Mr. Peter Boland:

If I could add to that, I had a discussion with an acquaintance in the legal profession last night about this whole area. I understand the reluctance of insurance companies to go to court because it is a bit of a lottery. That is not to be sympathetic to them in any way, shape or form because they have a lot to answer for in this area, but it is certainly the case that the gentleman I had the discussion with could only think of one case in recent case law where anybody was prosecuted under section 25 of the Civil Liability Act, and that was back in 2012.

The legislation is there but the way in which it is structured does not act as a deterrent for people who are intent on making exaggerated or misleading claims.

Going back to Deputy Lawless's comments on the issue of legal costs, we have not focused on legal costs to any great extent because we do not want this to turn into a blame game. To be honest, we have felt that much of the debate on this in recent years has been very unsophisticated in that the vested interests take a position and point their guns at the opposition. There has, between the legal profession and the insurance companies in particular, been a lot of "It's your fault. No, it's your fault." We say that everyone involved in this, particularly those making money out of it, have a responsibility to address it. What is different now is that it is unsustainable. Businesses, charities and voluntary groups were able to handle the increases for a number of years, but it has gone past that point now and we are looking at a much broader issue. This is why we are not a business-based organisation any more, because this is a societal threat. The consequences of what is happening at present are that schools will not be able to allow kids to exercise in the schoolyards, it will not be possible to build additional community playgrounds, Montessoris will have to close because of the excesses and conditions on them, voluntary clubs will be restricted in what they can do, charities will not be able to provide the services they have been able to provide and society as a whole will shrink. That is what we are looking at. We want to avoid this bashing back and forth and actually get some action because we fear that an awful lot of what is being done at present consists of long-term processes aimed at solving an urgent problem, and that is of no use to our members. That is why the ten items we have listed, we feel, can be addressed before the summer recess, never mind by the end of the year.