Mr. Ronan Lupton:

On the second question, regarding where we are heading from an EU and national regulatory perspective, the proposed Act does set out national supervisory authority and a board structure in respect of notifications, approvals and all that. Again, therefore, much turns on how quickly the proposed Act will get through the trilogue process. I hope this will happen quickly. It might not be perfect in respect of where we would like it to be, unfortunately, but ultimately this will start the process nationally. Would it be right for us to go ahead and install a regulator here with a significant budget and start the process based on what we see in the draft? Probably not, but then again the draft is not that far away from where the final text will land. I think this addresses the question in that regard. Undoubtedly, we will have flavours of national interest that will seek to protect. There are no two ways about that. The question is what latitude we will have under the proposed Act to make these choices.

Returning to the issue of the debate, I cannot help but reinject the point concerning those not represented by unions, for example, including those who are sole traders. I am a sole trader who practises in the Law Library in Dublin, and I can tell the committee that if the courts were made more efficient by the use of AI technology, we would embrace that because more cases would get through the system. Replacing the advocate in this context, however, is obviously something I would object strenuously to.