Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On 27 June 2017 the Government gave its approval to the drafting of the personal injuries board amendment Bill 2017 along the lines of the general scheme. The purpose of the personal injuries board amendment Bill 2017 is to amend the existing legislation, to strengthen PIAB in terms of operational issues, to ensure greater compliance with the PIAB process and to encourage more claims to be settled through the PIAB model.

The heads of Bill have been sent to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel for drafting. This is technical and complex legislation and it will require careful consideration during drafting in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General. It is hoped to have the drafting of the Bill completed in the first quarter of 2018 and published thereafter. There is ongoing work on the Bill, in recognising the importance of it. We hope to have it in the first quarter of 2018.

The 2016 PIAB annual overview highlights the major benefits of the organisation, including its providing a low cost, quick and fair option in injury compensation.

According to the overview, just over 34,000 new personal injury claims were submitted to PIAB with processing costs in 2016 at 6.4% of awards, a fraction of the costs had the claims it handled required litigation. It is a very important organisation, which is cost efficient and does its work in a timely way. The new legislation will further facilitate that.

In June 2014, a public consultation was held on the operation and implementation of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board with 29 submissions being received from a range of stakeholders. The outcome of the public consultation process has informed the general scheme of the personal injuries assessment board (amendment) Bill 2017. The submissions are available to view on the Department's website.

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