Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My party opposes section 13 in its entirety. This section seeks to give the Minister power to take the financial reserves of PIAB, which currently stands at €19 million. I oppose the change as PIAB has built up the reserve over years, since its establishment, by continually re-engineering efficient processes and fighting judicial reviews by vested interests. This money was collected for the purpose of assessing injury claims, as provided for under legislation, and for no other purpose. Perhaps the reserve should go back to the policyholders who paid it in either directly or through their insurance premiums, which has already happened to an extent. For example, the fixed fee for an assessment has reduced from €1,500 in 2004 to €600 currently for respondents and their insurers. In addition, the Exchequer has been repaid a loan of €5 million for set-up costs. PIAB has been very successful in being self-funding and the reserve gives the board a certain degree of independence. I do not believe it would benefit PIAB if the reserves were taken. It is for those reasons that we oppose section 13.