Mr. Peter Boland:

It is a very good question. I will use the table on page 4 to explain exactly why litigation is so popular. It reproduces table 26 from the first national claims information database, NCID, liability report. The data the Central Bank, through its NCID unit, has provided over the past number of years has been exceptional in casting a bright light over this area. It leaves very little room for vagueness or fake news, to use an oft-used expression recently.

Insurance Ireland and Ms Murdock have given versions of these figures. There are many different ways the numbers can be pulled out of both the motor insurance reports from the NCID and this liability report but they all show the same thing. The set of figures we chose to highlight here shows injury settlement costs by the cumulative settlement band. Essentially, in the band on the left-hand side of the table, we have been very generous in calling minor injuries any that are up to €150,000, which covers all of the minor injuries and probably a few more. In the same table, across from the row showing the awards costing less than €150,000, the Deputy will see the direct settlements, which do not constitute a huge number of the settlements in this area. The table then moves to the PIAB figures. Through PIAB, the average compensation payout for awards under €150,000 is €26,760. If somebody rejects that assessment and goes to litigation, they actually drop to an average of €25,088. Therefore, the plaintiff is down by about €1,500 by going to litigation and, what is more, they are waiting an average of 2.7 years extra to get that assessment and compensation. In terms of natural justice, it is an appalling route to take because people are getting less and it is taking longer.

However, the average legal fees applicable to a PIAB settlement are €1,705 and the average legal fees applicable to a litigated settlement are €18,680, which is an increase by a factor of 11. That is the reason so many cases go to litigation. There is no benefit, by and large, for plaintiffs to take a straightforward minor personal injury into litigation but, as a rule, they go to litigation because there is another pot of gold at the end of that particular rainbow.