Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I am aware they are paying out advance payments, for instance in the medical negligence cases where it is clear that the family does need the support to provide the level of care, and then there is a hold off in relation to what the final award should be, on the basis of seeing how the person progresses over a period of three to four years. There is an issue with the amount having to paid out. Before, when one invested money it created an annual income. Now, if money is put into the bank one is penalised. There is that difficulty too. Even if an award of a substantial sum is made, we must ask how this sum is then managed in order to provide the level of support required. There are now a whole lot of complications. It raises the question of whether we should now be looking at a better system for dealing with this.