Mr. John Hogan:

Along with the guidance of the people who are very familiar with dealing with these cases, which is the State Claims Agency. The other thing the Deputy has to remember is the counterfactual, which is that costs had already been incurred in pursuing this case. It seemed to us from the advice we were getting from the State Claims Agency that, on balance, pursuing this case would work. If we had gone against that advice and decided to roll up our tent and walk away, the committee could have us here to ask us why the legal costs were invested in that case up to now, that the guidance we were getting would have brought us in a certain direction, and why the case was not pursued.

In all these things, there is a balance that must be struck. On balance, the Department felt it was the right course of action. Ultimately, as we see, it facilitated a settlement that allowed for the return of €29 million plus whatever was the benefit of the-----