Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will refer to the actions that have been taken because the Deputy is correct that this is a matter that has dominated priority questions but as I am sure he will appreciate regardless of whether it is dominating these questions I am aware of how serious the issue is and of the work that the Minister of State, Deputy D'Arcy, is doing to tackle this issue.

Before I answer the Deputy's specific question I want to point to what has already happened. I refer to the work the Garda Síochána is continuing to do in this area of which there will be more in that space. The Minister has engaged with the Garda Commissioner on that. I refer to the work the Garda Síochána is doing in collecting statistics regarding a new insurance fraud category to further aid our analysis of what we can do to tackle this issue. I refer also to the amendment of sections 8 and 14 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act of 2004 to ensure defendants are appropriately notified of a claim having been submitted. The Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Act 2019 commenced at the start of April. I refer to the work that has been done on the Central Bank (National Claims Information Database) Act, which has been commenced. While its initial focus is on motor insurance, the information being generated will be of help in dealing with this broad area.

To answer the question the Deputy put to me, the Minister of State, Deputy D'Arcy, has already stated and I share his view that if and when the judicial council Bill is implemented and passed by the Seanad before the summer recess, we hope the guidelines the Deputy is referring to will be in place by the end of this year. However, I have to recognise that this is a judicial council. It is independent in its work and if we begin to be perceived to be interfering with that independence, let alone do it, we undermine its independence and therefore its effectiveness. Neither I nor I am sure the Deputy want to do that but we hope that soon after the passage of this Bill the issuing of guidelines can be dealt with by the council.

See this speech in context