Mr. Michael Horan:

Insurance companies are very supportive of the Injuries Board and believe it has been very successful in the ten years since its establishment. The Injuries Board is designed to deal with claims where there is no argument about liability. If an insurance company believes something is not an Injuries Board case, it is because there is an issue around liability and an argument about who is at fault for the accident. We would like the powers of the Injuries Board to be strengthened to include, for example, the power to require people to turn up for medical exams and to provide information on loss of earnings. We would also like the scope of the Injuries Board to be expanded. At the moment, the legislation requires the board to deal with a claim within nine months. If it cannot do so, the case has to be released. Insurance companies would like as many cases as possible, where there is no argument on liability, to be dealt with by the Injuries Board. An injury about which there is no argument about liability may not settle down for 12 months, 18 months or two years and there should be no reason the Injuries Board cannot deal with it. If it could and did not have to release them back into the litigation system it would be a good result.

There are systems issues that could be looked at to address the costs of claims and changing the legislation around the Injuries Board, to expand its scope and give it more powers to deal with more claims, is one such issue. One does not have to have a major societal debate about that. Other issues about the level of awards and whether they are too high or low are subjective but the systems issues can be dealt with. It is something we would heartily support.