Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In terms of specifics, the Minister is expecting some announcement shortly on the work of An Garda Síochána around insurance fraud. We do not know the nature of that but this has been long promised and we are expecting some announcement. Let us hope it is tangible and positive.

The Minister is expecting and taking the caveat on board that it depends on the speed at which the judicial council, once established, gets its work done but he is hoping and expecting that by the end of this year there will be revised guidelines, which the Judiciary will have to reflect in the level of awards. I say to the Minister, and I have had this discussion with the Minister of State, Deputy D'Arcy, that when he is bringing forward the details of the judicial council Bill in the Seanad and when it completes its journey in this House, if he allows too much wriggle room for the Judiciary and if they only have to have regard to these new guidelines then it will be a waste of time. There will always be a certain degree of discretion allowed but we know what happens in cases where there is too much discretion. Essentially, the guidelines become redundant very quickly. This has to be tightly framed to make sure that the new levels of awards set out in the guidelines are reflected in actual award levels.

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