Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

He assured me that this legislation would be brought forward in 2013. I appreciate that it is a complex area and the Bill is better late than never. I congratulate the Minister of State and the officials in the Departments of Justice and Equality and Finance. There is a lot of work ongoing in these Departments. I do not wish to criticise anybody as people do their best to bring forward proposals and it was not easy to legislate to deal with this issue. People often say flippantly that certain things can be done overnight. There are many flaws in the current arrangements. I have pointed to one or two thingsk, of which I would like the Minister of State to take cognisance. I do not say this for the purposes of blowing a trumpet but to make sure the legislation that will emerge will deal with this issue. It will benefit people who receive catastrophic injuries in the course of medical treatment or road traffic accidents - we would love if nobody suffered such injuries at any stage - and who become plaintiffs in employers' liability or occupational injury claims. We hope no such accidents will occur, but when they do, we must ensure it is possible for those who are unfortunate enough to find themselves in this position to secure the very best result.

The others who will benefit from this legislation are legal people, particularly judges, who have been advocating for it for a long time and will be mightily relieved and grateful to see it at long last being placed on the Statute Book and passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas.

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