Ms Dorothea Dowling:

No. I would suggest that this one could be activated through the tax consolidation Act in the forthcoming budget. While receipt of compensation would still be tax free, the payee would have to pay the top rate of tax if they do not register the details of the claim settlement in this central database. I suggest that the PIAB run it because it has most of the data. All claims must be registered there. This would not only be helpful with data in the insurance industry, it would also tackle money laundering because there is organised crime involved in some of these cases. It would also tackle the situation which can arise in which some claimants receive an award for medical expenses, put that money in their back pocket, make a claim for tax relief on medical expenses or get money back from the hospital, which is entitled to charge the full economic rate for a hospital in a road traffic accident. They put that in their back pocket as well. These payments would all be registered. For example, if somebody wanted to make a tax relief claim for their medical expenses, Revenue would have the details and be able to say the person in question had already got that money back in a claims settlement. From the point of view of the Exchequer and hospitals, if the full economic rate is due to a hospital for a claimant being there for five nights or whatever, that amount is paid straight to the hospital. At the moment, the HSE has to chase the plaintiff to get the money. Administratively, it has so many potential advantages.