Ms Dorothea Dowling:

There is also provision in the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004, which is not being used and may need to be strengthened, that provides that a plaintiff was required at quite an early stage to state what their minimum terms were. The plaintiff might say they are not happy with an award of €16,000 and they want €20,000. However, what is happening is people are coming forward with stupid offers saying they want €100,000. They have done their bit and made their offer, but that provision in the Act needs to be strengthened. If one does not get more than 25% in that respect, one will not get one's costs covered.