Ms Sara Moorhead:

No. One of the problems with the original book of quantum is that it is very non-specific. There may be an entry showing awards for a broken leg of between €30,000 and €80,000. The Injuries Board has 12 years of experience and this will allow it to produce a system similar to that in the UK, which is a much more refined and detailed system. The UK system has indices of injuries into which one can shoehorn more specific amounts awarded by the courts. It may give details of a person who has had a hip replacement, for example, who has had three years of difficulties and will require ongoing treatment but made a good recovery. There may be five factors in total and it is more specific. One of the problems with the current book of quantum is the wide range within it. The other problem with the book of quantum, although the Injuries Board has been dealing with this in recent years, is that it was not originally intended to assess psychological or psychiatric injury at all. People have mentioned whiplash injuries, but a significant part of what people go through with injuries is the trauma associated with them, and this often feeds into the award. The book of quantum is quite defective in that respect. It is to be hoped that when the new book of quantum comes out it will be a useful tool. If it is a useful tool there is no reason judges will not use it. It is in judges' interests to be reasonably uniform in their approach too, as they do not want the cases to be appealed.