Mr. John McKeon:

The legislation has been changed. From the conversation to which I refer, I understand that they also looked at could they tell the judges "You have to do this". The view was that judges do not like being told by the Oireachtas how to develop judgments. As a result, it was easier to just say that the amount awarded under every compensation claim is recoverable, rather than just the loss of earnings. This means that the compensator of the settlement, whether it is a judge in a court case or the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, PIAB, must take account of the fact that a certain amount of money will be repayable to the State. We are considering whether to follow this route.