Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If there is certainty regarding the level of awards, then the insurance companies will feel they are on firmer ground going into the courts. As the Deputy said, some insurance companies are currently shy about going to court and they pay to settle cases. Representatives from Insurance Ireland told me yesterday that its members accept 90% of PIAB settlements while challenging 10%. The reason those companies probably do not challenge enough is that, in general, they feel that the courts are on the side of the claimant rather than a foreign multinational insurance company. That is the perception of the insurance companies regarding how they think cases will be looked at in the courts. The best way out of that situation is having the book of quantum being written by the judges themselves. I think everybody knows that it will be enforced by the judges if they write it.