Results 581-600 of 1,683 for speaker:Derek McDowell

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

Derek McDowell: I gather the Tánaiste is contemplating a change of job sooner than I am. As a solicitor I would not like to be in a position where someone approached me 15 or 18 months after going through the lawyer-less process of the PIAB and informed me of an accident 18 months or two years previously which he or she thought was dealt with through an acceptable settlement, but then found that the...

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

Derek McDowell: Yes. Amendment put and declared lost. Amendments Nos. 10 and 11 not moved. Section 14 agreed to. Section 15 agreed to. SECTION 16.

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

Derek McDowell: She will not agree.

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

Derek McDowell: Why would the Tánaiste say that?

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

Derek McDowell: I move amendment No. 13: In page 14, subsection (1), line 12, to delete "be required to".

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

Derek McDowell: I will not go to war on this but there is an issue. The draftspersons obviously think there are certain types of cases with which the board should not deal. There is no oversight of the issue and if the board makes a decision, that is the end of the matter. The board can then deal with a case with which the Tánaiste and those who drafted the Bill think it should not, such as a case dealing...

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

Derek McDowell: I move amendment No. 14: In page 14, subsection (1), lines 41 and 42, to delete "in case the relevant claim arises out of a trespass to the person,". My purpose in proposing this amendment was to find out what this subsection intended to capture. It seems, perhaps, that it intends to capture cases of physical or sexual abuse or something of that kind, but that is not explicit in the Bill. I...

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

Derek McDowell: Did the Parliamentary Counsel have cases of sexual abuse in mind or why is it included?

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

Derek McDowell: Was there a specific intention to exclude sexual abuse cases from the ambit of the board? There is a cogent case to be made for excluding it, but I wonder was that intended.

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

Derek McDowell: I do not think we will get much further on this issue. It would be worthwhile to have a more explicit statement on the record as to whether cases of sexual abuse will be excluded from the board. They should be excluded.

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

Derek McDowell: Yes, but that brings us back to the issue we discussed earlier. A person could seek an assessment of damages and then contest liability or could seek an assessment and then, where not acceptable, take an alternative route.

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

Derek McDowell: We are at one on this point. I understood, when I read the particular subsection, that it was probably intended to deal with sexual abuse. If that is the case, it should explicitly say so.

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

Derek McDowell: Yes. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Amendment No. 15 not moved. Section 17 agreed to. Sections 18 to 21, inclusive, agreed to. SECTION 22. Question proposed: "That section 22 stand part of the Bill."

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

Derek McDowell: Will the Tánaiste give us more detail about the intended regime? This is the section which allows for charges to be imposed. Would she see it as routine that a charge would be imposed on both sides, claimant and respondent? If so, would it be a flat fee or would it be related to the nature of any assessment?

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

Derek McDowell: Will it be a flat fee?

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

Derek McDowell: What level of fee will be imposed on the respondent? Would it be comparable to court fees?

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

Derek McDowell: Would that be comparable to the amount they would have to pay if the case was heard in court or will it be less?

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

Derek McDowell: Is it the intention to relate the cost to the level of the assessment?

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

Derek McDowell: Would a different fee be imposed on an assessment which led to an award of €20,000 than on one of €40,000? Will it be related directly to the amount?

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

Derek McDowell: So there will be a discretionary element, not a flat fee?