Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Second Stage debate on the Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020. I will deal with the other matter that is dealt with in section 6, which is not connected specifically with the mother and baby home records but it is in this legislation.

At the outset, I welcome the inclusion of section 6 of the Bill that makes amendments to the Judicial Council Act 2019 in respect of amending the timeframe for completion and adoption of personal injury guidelines which are so important. This is an insurance issue in section 6 of this legislation. As the Minister of State in the Department of Finance with responsibility for financial services, credit unions and insurance, I have a particular interest in this section as it has been of particular relevance to the Government's work on insurance reform, which is a key policy priority for the Government and which is reflected in the programme for Government.

In terms of addressing premiums in the small businesses, leisure and community sector, a necessary step is to bring the level of personal injury damages awarded in this country more in line with those awarded in comparable jurisdictions. In this regard, the Personal Injuries Commission conducted a benchmarking of awards between Ireland and other jurisdictions for the first time. This research showed that the award levels for certain injuries in Ireland were substantially higher than in England, Wales and other jurisdictions. This situation may be unsustainable and the establishment of a judicial council last December is very important in addressing this issue. It is hoped the personal injuries guidelines the council is to adopt could play a role in lowering the award levels and lead to a more consistent application of making awards in the courts.

As things currently stand, pursuant to section 18(4) of the Judicial Council Act 2019, the personal injuries guidelines committee has no more than six months from the date of it establishment, 28 April 2020, to prepare and submit to the board for its review the first draft of the personal injuries guidelines, which meant not later than 28 October 2020. However, the chair of this committee has requested a short extension to complete the work on this first draft of the guidelines rather than presenting them in an incomplete state by the current deadline. Given the wider circumstances over the past few months in relation to Covid-19, we were satisfied to accede to this request.

The overall effect of the changes proposed in section 6 addresses the concern expressed by the committee.

To provide more details on this, the proposed amendments to section 18 of the Judicial Council Act 2019 substitutes into section 18(4) the phrase "not later than 9 December 2020" in place of the current phrase "not later than 6 months" which, in effect, was 28 October. This amendment has the effect that the personal injuries guidelines committee must submit draft guidelines by 9 December 2020 to the board of the Judicial Council. I believe this extension is important in order to allow the committee to produce draft guidelines in as complete a manner as possible.

I turn to the proposed amendment of section 7. As matters stand, the Judicial Council is to adopt the draft personal injuries guidelines prepared and submitted by the committee to the board with the modifications, if any, made by the board as soon a practicable and, in any event, not later than 12 months after such submission and to publish the person injuries guidelines as soon as practicable following such adoption. This would have meant that the outer bound for the adoption of the new personal injury guidelines drawn up by the Judicial Council, the new regulations, would have been as late as October 2021. The amendments to section 7 of the Judicial Council Act 2019 will have the effect that the Judicial Council will have to adopt the first personal injury guidelines not later than 31 July 2021 and publish them as soon as is practicable thereafter. It should be noted, however, that where the personal injuries guidelines committee prepares guidelines in future years, the council will have up to 12 months to adopt them but they will, ideally, be adopted as quickly as possible after receipt of submission.

I am of the view that accelerating the adoption of the personal injuries guidelines from a potential date of 28 October, which is imminent, to 31 July shows that the Government is serious about implementing reform in the insurance area as quickly as possible. I reiterate my view that it is key that we reduce some personal injury award levels in this country and that there is consistency in award levels. This would provide stability which would allow for an increase in both insurance availability and affordability.

I acknowledge the role of the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy O'Gorman, for facilitating the inclusion of this particular section in this legislation. It is before the House this week due to the urgency of the timeline in dealing with this insurance matter.

See this speech in context