Dr. Declan Jackson:

The Deputy is right that the Court of Appeal is reducing those awards, but if he looks at the injury awards where we see the inflation, that is actually below the jurisdiction of the High Court. It would be District Court and Circuit Court, so the Court of Appeal does not reach down into those. We believe the mechanism for that is the judicial council. In terms of the larger awards, the Court of Appeal is reducing those in the High Court but the average award settlement for motor personal injury will be about €23,000 or €24,000. That will fall below the High Court.