John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As my colleague, Deputy Michael McGrath indicated, my party will support the Bill which we welcome. He has alluded to the fact that there was no pre-legislative scrutiny to facilitate its timely passage. A few minutes ago a colleague raised the issue and commented that the Government was doing nothing. That is incorrect. A more fair and reasonable question to ask is whether it is doing enough in a timely fashion. That question has to be posed in the context of the actions, recommendations and associated timelines outlined in the working group's report. If one analyses the issue, we have slipped behind the timelines, which is regrettable. Some actions have been delivered on. I will allude to a couple, but some have not been delivered on. I understand the intention was that when the working group reported, this legislation would be enacted last year and operational by now. Will we even have the legislation completed by the end of 2018? It is not the case that the Government has not done anything but whether it has done enough in a timely fashion. The working group and its recommendations with associated timelines are the benchmark. The Bill is important, but it is not enough in its own right. It is but one component, one brick in a block to address the issue. It will enable the Central Bank to gather and publish the data, which is important, bearing in mind that more than 70% of claims are settled outside the Personal Injuries Assessment Board.

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