Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests. The legislation is timely. We are all aware of the significant problems that have existed in the insurance industry, particularly those faced by small and medium-sized businesses. Runaway insurance claims and personal injuries claims, in particular, have become a scourge in business. Anything that can be a bulwark against them has to be welcomed.

Let me make a couple of points. There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that nearly seven out of ten personal injuries claims go straight to the courts, bypassing PIAB. This raises a question over the attachment of conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder to personal injuries claims. Doing so leads to a much higher payout in the courts. From a legal-fees perspective, there is good reason for going to the courts, particularly if one can get into the Circuit Court or High Court. In the Circuit Court and High Court, fees can range between 30% and 60% of the final award. Legal people probably try to push claimants to go to courts if they can at all. The delegates say the mediation process they are highlighting is mandatory, but if I go through a mediation process with PIAB for four months and my legal team tells me it has a good chance of exceeding what I believe PIAB will offer, although the team believes it might not exceed it by more than €500 or €1,000, there is a very good reason for going to court: the claimant would not face costs. Have the delegates considered examining historical awards where the settlement in the court was only marginally ahead of the PIAB recommendation? I refer to examining where court costs were being awarded against the insurance company so as to determine whether we need a far larger quantum. In other words, if I had a personal injury claim of €10,000 and attracted €10,000 in legal costs, should the personal-injury assessment by the courts not have been €20,000, which is what it would have cost to finish out the claim? Maybe the delegates would like to comment on that.

My next question is on the confidentiality of PIAB mediation. If one engages in a seven-month or eight-month process with PIAB and more or less knows what one will be offered and it is then decided to take the case to the courts, is there any danger that the information would be in the court domain or potentially available to anybody interacting with the case?

In other words, they may know if they can get a claim above that amount in the courts; I am not saying that they are able to speak to people but it creates an obvious question.

My third question relates to recurrent claimants who have been a significant feature in personal injury cases in this country, particularly against local authorities. Has PIAB any function or mandate to start looking at how people can be so accident-prone and how families can keep receiving recurring payments over periods of years? I ask that our guests might address those questions, please.