Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am not sure at which committee the idea was floated by the Minister of State, Deputy D’Arcy, that the Government would consider a referendum to override judicial discretion in the awarding of compensation claims if judges do not reduce injury payouts over the next two years. The cost of insurance working group, which the same Minister of State chairs, published its seventh progress report yesterday which highlighted, again, the Government’s failure to set up an insurance fraud unit. This sums up the Government's overall failure to tackle the insurance rip-off. Yesterday, we were told that the Garda Commissioner has yet to form a view on the proposal and that several issues will require further consideration before any decision to proceed is taken. This is a disjointed and messy set of messages coming from the Government. Will the Taoiseach afford us some clarity on the matter?

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