Mr. Kevin Thompson:

The Senator made a number of points, and Mr. Horan and I will take them in turn. First, regarding the Injuries Board, the Senator referred to a steady claims inflation. We do not see it that way. As I said in my earlier comment, the Injuries Board is dealing with non-disputed claims. It is dealing with claims where both parties are in agreement, so there will be a steady level of award. That is my first response. Since 2008 there has been a 34% increase in the number of claims going through the Injuries Board, but there has been a corresponding 13% increase in economic activity over that time. Some of it is probably related to an increase in the number of cars on the road, but there is a big difference between 34% and 13%.

There has been an increase in court awards. These are Courts Service statistics, not ours. The statistics that we quote relate to the lower court, which is the Circuit Court. We have not quoted the High Court. We accept the point regarding medical evidence and we know how distorting that can be in the High Court. However, the soft tissue injuries and lower-value claims are in the lower court, the Circuit Court. In its annual report for 2015, one can see a 22% increase in awards in the Circuit Court, and that was on top of a 13% increase for the previous year. We have seen it come through.

Regarding volatility, our point is that there is a situation whereby there is an inconsistency or fluctuation in court awards for any particular injury - that is why we believe the book of quantum and giving more powers to the Injuries Board are so important - and a general increase in the level of awards going through the court. In addition, there is the case of Setanta Insurance, whereby there is a proposal from the Government that basically creates a situation in which, in the case of future failures, prudent operators in the market have unlimited liability for their competitors' losses. All of those matters start feeding through and must be priced for, and it is the variation and fluctuation within them all which results in the level of volatility within the marketplace.