Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is fine, but, as the Deputy stated, there are people watching this debate and he has put forward a viewpoint that I wish to correct. He made a suggestion in relation to scope, as did Deputy Donnelly. I dealt with that issue in the Chamber before Deputy Kelly arrived. I said I would come back to it in the autumn because the Deputies were right on it. Deputy Kelly made a valid point about the six-month period and responded graciously on it. I brought forward an amendment which was very similar to the Deputy's.

Deputy Donnelly, supported by Deputies Kelly, O'Reilly, Bríd Smith and others, made a suggestion about free legal aid. We will get to it in a moment. We are going to do that also. We have all endeavoured to work on the Bill on a cross-party, bipartisan basis because this issue is above politics.

I know what Deputies Kelly and Bríd Smith are trying to do and even understand why they are trying to do it. However, I also have to take legal advice and look at some of the questions raised on Committee Stage such as Deputy Donnelly's about whether there would be recourse to the High Court. I will say a couple of things about that matter. Deputy Kelly does not agree with me, but members of the Judiciary do. Recurrence is an issue with which the Judiciary deals on a daily basis. Judges are already allowed and will be allowed under this law to award damages based on severity and the likelihood that something may happen in the future. The Deputy can wave his hand, but I will give him a good example of a case which was provided for me by the Judiciary. An example is the likelihood that a plaintiff will develop epilepsy following a neurological injury. In these circumstances, the medical expert for the plaintiff may contend that he or she has a 50:50 chance of developing epilepsy, although he or she may not even have it at the time of the trial. We all know from watching the "Six One" news that judges can make awards with reference to what may happen in the future based on medical evidence. I do not want any woman watching the debate to believe Ms Justice Irvine, as chairperson of the tribunal, will not be able to make awards on the basis of the likelihood of a recurrence because she will be able to. She is satisfied that she will be able to do so, as is the tribunal iand the Attorney General.

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