Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

We have had many people chancing their arm in pleadings who bring cases to the door of the court and when confronted with the fact that they will be exposed, they simply walk away from the matter. What is important under this new regime is that it will not be a matter of walking away or the defendant not pursuing the issue in the circumstances. There will be an official record so that afterwards — even years later — a plaintiff or the Garda Síochána, when alerted to a false claim, would know where to go to find the papers.