Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

It is disgraceful that this Bill is being rushed through in a way that reduces an opportunity for Members of this House to make a statement on the issue. I have been five years out of this House and this place has changed. Deputies' rights have been diluted to the extent that since we came back here two weeks ago almost every item of legislation has been guillotined.

A Cheann Comhairle, as Chair of these proceedings, the manner in which the rights of Deputies elected from constituencies up and down this country are safeguarded does no credit to you. I would hope that you would look at it during the summer, that the Government would look at the manner in which it treats this Chamber as a rubber stamp and that we might get off to a better start come the autumn. We are not in the dying days of a Dáil. We are at the start of a new five-year term. This Bill is not urgent and it is wrong to push it through without giving adequate time for parliamentary debate and for public scrutiny and submissions.

This is an attempt to push through a Bill that will limit the constitutional rights of citizens to take a personal injury case and it is nothing short of Government-sponsored blackmail. Before empowering the insurance industry and the PIAB and before we should limit the rights of the citizen even further, there is a need on the part of Government to weed out unscrupulous practices within the insurance industry.

Earlier this year a Sunday newspaper alleged that a major insurance company was recruiting serving and retired gardaí to investigate and settle claims to the detriment of the victim. I will be returning to this in the autumn when we have time. It is not unknown for accident victims to be visited at their hospital bedside by ex-gardaí acting as private investigators for large insurance companies and persuaded to settle their claims at gross undervalue. To date there has been no serious effort, either on the part of the Garda or of the Government, to halt this practice. Before he left this House the former Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Michael McDowell, stated that he viewed the matter as one of the utmost gravity. I have not seen much action on the matter over the past few months.

The citizens of this State are being left vulnerable to unscrupulous practices. The idea of elderly accident victims being awoken in their hospital beds to be confronted by an ex-garda waving a claim form and an acceptance receipt is grotesque. This Bill will copperfasten further the powers of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board to the detriment of the citizens of this country. I heard a great deal of talk about consumers. We are dealing here with the rights of citizens of the State to bring their cases fairly to an arbitrary proceeding, which is a court of this land.

Newspaper investigations into alleged collusion between gardaí and the insurance industry reveal that privileged Garda information on road traffic accidents was used by insurance companies to settle cases more quickly and cheaply, and thereby contributed to a large rise in profits for the market share, a point made earlier by Deputy Hogan. According to the latest figures, motor insurance profits have risen to the tune of 25%. There has been a decrease in premiums but this was cyclical and would have occurred in any event. It should not be attributed to the Personal Injuries Assessment Board. Allianz Insurance reported a 16% increase in profits in its motor business but these savings have not been passed on to the citizen and the consumer.

The Personal Injuries Assessment Board has been given further powers by the Government in such a way as to stack the odds in favour of the insurance industry, of which the PIAB is nothing more than a puppet. The Government has strengthened its powers to limit an accident victim's capacity to seek compensation through the courts. The Bill marks an erosion of people's rights and an attempt to muzzle the vulnerable and the voiceless. This is not about fraudulent or frivolous claims but massive profits for the insurance industry on the backs of the victims of accidents. Using the guillotine on the Bill makes a mockery of the parliamentary process, which is regrettable.

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