Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and the officials from the Department for attending the hearing today. I have a number of questions. On head No. 22, and I am aware that others have raised this concern also, but on the fundamental and constitutional right of access to justice and to the courts, this head seems like an interference with the running of the court in some way in its directing a judge with respect to a costs order, if the ruling is the same as the PIAB ruling. I raise that concern and seek greater clarification from the officials on that issue, please.

My main question relates to the mediation service and it is important to understand precisely how it will work. First, how separate will the mediation service be from the rest of the assessment work within the personal injuries resolution board? The proposed legislation speaks about officials within PIAB working in mediation but it is not clear how distinct or, indeed, how interconnected both the assessment service and the mediation service will be.

Second, I am thinking about the person who is taking the claim and while, with good reason, there is a very significant concern about fraud and those who are taking repeated claims, on the other side of that we need to ensure that we fully protect those who are coming forward and have a legitimate injury. What protections are they afforded in the mediation process and what supports are they given? I see here that they are allowed to be accompanied by somebody, or perhaps a legal adviser, and I am just wondering if we are getting back then into the whole realm of additional costs. This is important in understanding what supports are going to be there for the person bringing the claim and in understanding the mediation process because ultimately we may need to hardwire some of those supports into the legislation.

My apologies but I am conscious that I need to throw all of these questions, listen to our guests' replies and run to the Chamber then. I very much welcome head No. 24, in respect of data collection, but I want to understand what type of data collection the legislation refers to. Our guests spoke earlier about a lack of oversight in respect of awards being made in the District Court. We know a little bit about what is happening in the Circuit Court but does the data collection extend to that? Unless we fully understand what is happening in the courts we cannot properly compare with what is happening through this new personal injuries resolution board. I thank our guests.