Anthony Lawlor (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Judicial Council Bill 2017 is coming before the Seanad next week. I am not sure how much of a positive impact this will have on the cost of insurance for ordinary citizens and businesses. It will take time, because it will have to go through the Oireachtas. Then a committee will have to be set up in the Judiciary, which will have a review and will then decide. We could still be discussing this in two years, with no change having been made to awards. As far as I am concerned this is one leg of a stool. The Minister of State indicated in his initial comments that there is no single silver bullet. As far as I am concerned one of the legs of this stool is the awards being paid out by the Judiciary. This problem has been caused by the Judiciary because it has increased the awards on an annual basis. It has been shown that on average, there has been an increase of between €700 and €900 per annum in a variety of awards, without any justification. I hope that we get the Judicial Council Bill 2017 through the Seanad and the Dáil as quickly as possible. I hope that the Government initiates the necessary legislation as quickly as possible in order that this proposed committee, which I have not yet seen, can be established as quickly as possible. I hope that we do not need to bring legislation forward to provide for a cap on damages. The perception is that the Government is dragging its heels on this issue. I do not believe it is. This is a complex matter but we need to deal with it quickly because as people have indicated, businesses, farmers, communities, festivals, shows and ordinary citizens driving their motor vehicles are suffering as a result of this.