James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I also thank the delegates. I missed the statement made by Insurance Ireland because I was attending another committee meeting, but I have read it and have a number of questions. I wish to discuss some of the cost figures presented.

A variety of legal costs seem to be to the fore in the headline figures on the first page. One of the claims made is that there has been a 48% increase in the average Circuit Court award, from €11,800 in 2013 to €17,700 in 2016, according to the annual report of the Courts Service. That makes perfect sense because the jurisdictional limits of the court were increased in 2014. Therefore, we would expect awards to be higher. However, the corollary is that we expect costs to be lower because a person can take a case to the Circuit Court which previously had to be taken to the High Court to be litigated. By definition, therefore, awards should be higher, while costs should be lower. I am not sure I accept that as a ground, but I am interested in hearing the delegates views on it.

The same could be said on many of the other points made about legal services. I am a lawyer, but I am not currently practising and do not work in the area of personal injury claims. However, I have friends and colleagues who do. I made the point to another group which appeared before the committee recently that there was no gravy train. If there is, it is a closed circle in terms of lawyers receiving lucrative personal injury claims work. Someone is making money, but I am not convinced that lawyers are. I know that being a lawyer is not a popular profession, no more than being an insurer, but I am not convinced that many lawyers are running down the quays with briefcases full of personal injury claims.

When the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, PIAB, was established, it took all personal injury cases out of the courts. I am interested in hearing the views of the delegates and whether there has been a retrenchment from that position. Is the PIAB no longer dominating assessments? Are the courts becoming more involved? I am hearing anecdotally that insurers are settling very quickly and easily and, in many cases, not going to the courts or the PIAB. I have been told that defendants such as employers or workplaces dealing with trip and slip cases often want to fight a case with evidence, including CCTV evidence, because an employee is chancing his or her arm. They want to take on litigants, but insurance companies agree to settle and tell workplaces not to worry because they have the matter covered. That is what is leading to increasing costs according to businesses in my constituency or former legal colleagues. It seems to be a major issue. If cases are being settled, rather than going to the PIAB or the courts, that will increase costs. Is that the case and, if so, why?

I have other questions, but perhaps the delegates might answer those first.