Results 561-580 of 1,683 for speaker:Derek McDowell

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: Senator Mansergh referred to a level playing field. It is unreal to suggest that an individual, who does not have legal assistance or representation, is in the same position as an insurance company, which has a bank of professional advisers, including assessors and legal professionals, available to it in the normal course. Someone in a working class estate in Dublin, Limerick or elsewhere,...

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: We anticipated that the Tánaiste's response would be that agents, that is, solicitors, would be copied correspondence from the PIAB. It is silly and almost petty to state that while one is prepared to copy a letter, one will not acknowledge that a claimant has chosen to be represented by a solicitor by refusing to send a letter directly the solicitor. If one is prepared to accept that a...

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: Why not?

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: I move amendment No. 4: In page 11, subsection (2), line 4, after "proceedings" to insert "save that where the claimant nominates a solicitor, the Board shall communicate with the claimant through the solicitor so nominated". Amendment put and declared lost. Sections 7 to 10, inclusive, agreed to. SECTION 11.

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: I move amendment No. 5: In page 11, subsection (3)(b), line 39, after "correspondence" to insert "(other than without prejudice correspondence)". This is essentially a technical amendment. The section requires that a claimant provide copies of all correspondence or that he or she can be required to provide copies of all correspondence. At present, the rules of court do not oblige claimants,...

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: The section requires that copies of all correspondence between the claimant and the person or those persons with regard to the claim be provided to the board. If an effort has been made in correspondence, typically involving a solicitor at an early stage, to settle a claim or from an assessor in an insurance company, who might offer an amount of money without prejudice or without accepting...

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: Yes, if it is expressed to be a without prejudice letter where an offer of settlement is made either from the insurance company to the claimant or vice versa.

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: Or by their agents. It is more likely to be made in a letter from the solicitor.

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: Yes. Somebody who intends to make a claim generally goes to a solicitor in the first instance. If there are preliminary negotiations with an insurance company and there is correspondence which discloses an offer being made, generally from the insurance company to the claimant, under this section the correspondence would have to be submitted to the board. The normal process in a court case is...

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: Before the board.

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: I move amendment No. 6: In page 12, subsection (3)(c), line 3, after "injuries" to insert "and whom the claimant proposes to call as a witness in the event of bringing proceedings in respect of the claim". This amendment deals with medical reports. Again, I am seeking to replicate the situation that applies in court cases. Under the legislation, the board can require all medical reports or...

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: It is correct that reports are agreed. However, it is not unusual for a particular report to be unused. One regularly gets reports from doctors that are simply inadequate. They do not regard it as their priority, which is understandable. One, therefore, might choose not to use the report. One exchanges the reports on which settlement is based but one would not necessarily exchange every...

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: I move amendment No. 7: In page 12, subsection (1), line 28, after "practicable" to insert "and, in any event, within 14 days". Section 13(1) says that as soon as practicable after receipt of the application the board serves a notice on the respondent. We want to put in a time limit of 14 days. As the Tánaiste rightly points out, the whole purpose of the Bill is to speed up the process of...

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: This amendment seeks to insert a time limit at the start of the process so that when the claim is initiated the respondent has to be told within 14 days. While I accept it might be difficult further down the line to constrain how the board deals with cases as regards time limits, depending on how things develop, it does not seem unreasonable to put it right at the start of the process.

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: It is not. I accept the principle that it is something that could and should be dealt with in the rules. It would not be the first time we set up a process that was intended to be simple and fast. I have in mind the process to the Ombudsman's office, which is intended to be simple and fast. The reality is that it takes a long time in many cases, far longer than originally intended, simply...

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: I move amendment No. 8: In page 12, subsection (2), line 36, after "notice" to insert "(being a period not greater than 21 days)". It is of a similar kind. It does have somewhat more implications. It requires the respondent to respond within 21 days when he or she receives the initial notice from the board. This relates to another issue, which will be dealt with shortly in greater length,...

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: I move amendment No. 9: In page 12, subsection (1)(a), line 39, after "states" to insert "in open correspondence to the claimant that the respondent accepts liability for the claim and states".

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: Could the Minister deal with the issue of delay that arises where a claimant is prejudiced by virtue of the delay so that he or she has to go back and deal with an issue which he or she thought had been dealt with, and accumulate the evidence?

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: Yes.

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)

Derek McDowell: I accept there will be fewer cases in court, otherwise the process will have been a complete failure and we want it to work so that will not happen. However, the Minister did not deal adequately with the point I am making about delay. As she knows I have a practising certificate but it is some years since I have dealt with this kind of case and I aspire to keep it that way for some time to...