Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 13 June 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach

Cost of Insurance Working Group: Minister of State at the Department of Finance

Photo of Anthony LawlorAnthony Lawlor (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My problem with guidelines is that there is no legal basis for them. They do not have to be adhered to by the Judiciary. The judicial council may prescribe awards. The Minister of State indicated that if pathway A for the Judicial Council Bill 2017 does not work, there is pathway B, which the LRC is considering at the moment and which coincides with my Bill on the capping of awards. The Minister of State has indicated pathway C would be a referendum. Judges do not have to adhere to guidelines. There will always be an instance where the legal profession will refer to previous cases and where the awards proposed by the judicial council could be challenged. I am nervous that the Judiciary will not adhere to the guidelines.

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