Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 25 May 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

General Scheme of the Personal Injuries Resolution Board Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed)

Ms Moyagh Murdock:

As I said, the first thing to do is to remove the incentive to do it in the first place, which is the quantum of the compensation they could get. Also the ease of being able to blame someone else for a minor issue needs to be removed. Personal responsibility needs to be taken, the Civil Liability Act and the Occupiers' Liability Act should be changed and the incentive removed. Quite often, it is like lottery numbers with respect to compensation being paid out and they have nothing to lose. The practice of taking cases on a no foal, no fee basis is too big of an incentive for claimants. We have a responsibility to fight those cases and prosecute them but it is a full agenda that we need to pursue as a collective. I hear what the Deputy is saying and I will take it on board.