Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I accept that. I want to be fair. Has Mr. McMahon been selective in what he has picked? He picked four claims, one of which is a stress claim. There was a settlement of €60,000, and €73,000 in costs, which means that 55% of the overall payout was in legal costs. The second case related to an injury that occurred in a car park. Mr. McMahon stated there was a claim of €15,500, and €16,220 in legal costs, meaning that such costs comprised 51% of the total. The next case involved a finger injury. The claim was for €12,500 and the legal cost was €20,477, which is 62% of the total. The final case involved an equine-related employment accident. The claim was for €81,313 and the legal cost was €108,918, which is 58% of the total. These figures do not match Ms Muldoon’s figure, which appears to be consistent with those of both AXA and Allianz and which point to proportions of roughly 70% in awards and 30% in legal costs. Mr. McMahon might comment on that. He might also indicate which of the four cases went to court and which were settled outside court.

I am probably being somewhat bit direct but my main purpose is to get to the truth. The problem is that we are led to believe by the insurance companies that it is all about legal costs and we are led to believe by the legal profession that it is all about insurance costs. The truth is somewhere in between.