Results 4,081-4,100 of 50,136 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: ——and has had a positive impact on the people of no property and no means. It is far better than the old adversarial litigation system. Let us not be qualifying and qualifying or saying: "On the one hand but also on the other..."

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: There is a classic "Tadhg an dá thaobh" aspect emerging in this debate. Processing costs under the PIAB are on a fixed basis and are 70% cheaper than under the old litigation system. The PIAB promotes the early settlement of claims. It is open six days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. By facilitating contact and the exchange of papers between the parties, it is estimated that 40% of claims...

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: I will come to that shortly. The estimated number of personal injury cases in the Circuit Court has fallen from 20,000 in 2004 to 5,000 in 2006. Monthly insurance cost indices produced by the Central Statistics Office show that the cost of consumers' motor insurance is now at May 1997 levels, a matter I dealt with in my closing speech on Second Stage. Deputy Lynch referred to the numbers...

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: It has.

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: In addition to the full costs claimants are receiving for the litigation, they are receiving a further €1,500 for the cost of making the application to the PIAB, which the PIAB would do for €50, as Senator O'Toole articulated so eloquently in the Seanad.

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: In one case, McGarrity v. Dublin Port, an assessment of €9,200 was declined by a claimant but was subsequently accepted after the issue of proceedings, before it went to court. The claimants' costs were taxed at €6,120, which included a professional fee of €3,250.

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: No, I will outline another case.

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: In the second case, an assessment of €6,678 was declined by a claimant and was subsequently accepted after the issue proceedings. The claimant's costs were taxed at €3,474.80, which included a professional fee of €1,300. Costs incurred in regard to PIAB work were not allowed as only the costs of proceedings were awarded. The assessment process was declined by the respondent in...

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: Costs have been recovered by claimants in cases where assessments are being rejected and subsequently accepted after the issue of proceedings. Fees of €1,000 to €1,500 are being allowed by county registrars throughout the country for PIAB work in addition to the full professional fee of the proceedings. We are aware, and PIAB has raised the issue with me, that this is becoming a...

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: There are a number of cases. Is the Deputy suggesting we should wait for the thousands——

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy is missing the point. The case does not have to go to court.

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: That is the point I am making. The loophole is there to be exploited before the case gets to court. We are cutting off this loophole in the interests of the people of no property or no means. This is to protect the people of no property or no means to whom Deputy Lynch alluded. It is why we are moving with urgency. I respectfully suggest that if I introduced the Bill next year and the...

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: I would be attacked from all sides of the House if I had not moved on this issue. That is how politics works. I am satisfied this is a reasonable position to adopt. It is important we protect the edifice of the PIAB. It has been good for people. The practice that has emerged has the potential to undermine its work and impact on it significantly.

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: I clarified that I accepted the Deputy's bona fides.

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: I accept from Deputy Penrose's contribution that he does not have issues with the PIAB. I welcome his comments and, as I said in my response on Second Stage, I accept his bona fides. I do not see him as approaching the subject with a vested interest at all. I understand and value the point he made but the question of the exception becoming the rule is the problem we face as we attempt to...

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: It is not in exceptional cases. It is a loophole we must close off.

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: As it stands, a person can reject the award from the PIAB, issue proceedings and be awarded costs.

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: It would have happened in a number of cases to which I referred.

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: The number is not an issue. Does Deputy Lynch suggest I wait for another six months so that there are a couple of thousand cases costing €1,800? Should I wait 12 months for a couple of million euro to be lost needlessly?

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2007)

Micheál Martin: We took part in a debate yesterday on competitiveness and on doing things efficiently in modern Ireland. The PIAB is all about that. I am getting mixed messages from the Fine Gael benches. Some say they welcome the Bill, while others, such as Deputy Charles Flanagan, say that it is pitted against the claimant.