One of the functions ascribed to the commission is to provide legal advice to Members on matters arising from their membership of the Dáil or Seanad. This is something that, I suspect, all of us believed was available as a matter of course. In recent years the growth of a litigation consciousness has meant that individual Members often felt under threat from matters arising outside formal sessions of the Houses or committees where constitutional or statutory immunity applied. In these situations, concerns were voiced about the propriety or legality of obtaining legal advice for them at public expense. Section 4(2)(e) is intended to remove all doubt. It should also be crystal clear from the terms of the subsection that this relates to issues arising from their status as Members and is not a free legal advice service for Members on other issues.