Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In the context of drafting this legislation, it was not just PIAB that we engaged with. We engaged extensively with key stakeholders, including the Alliance for Insurance Reform and community groups. We had a public consultation that 240 people made submissions to and that informed the drafting of this legislation. Some of the provisions we are making are due to requests and suggestions that have been made, including on cases of a wholly psychological nature. At the moment those cases cannot be assessed by PIAB so that is something new it will be do. I cannot quantify what the total cost savings have been but I can give the example of cases going through PIAB. The average legal cost associated with them is €841. Of the cases going through litigation, the average legal costs are €16,064. The savings in legal fees are immense. It is 15 times more costly to go through litigation than through PIAB. We need many more cases going through PIAB because ultimately those costs are passed onto policyholders.

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