Results 81-100 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: If the law, and not the insurer, directs. The law will direct it if liability is not being contested.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: There is a misunderstanding here. It is not the insurance companies, but the law in the first instance, which will compel claimants to go to the PIAB. Both parties will be free to reject the PIAB settlement. I do not understand the point being made by Senator Phelan. Is he suggesting that it should be mandatory for someone to accept the PIAB assessment?
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: Senator Mansergh put it very well. I dealt with the issue of liability in the previous amendment. We will kill the legislation before it starts if the issue of liability has to be resolved.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: In the first instance, we would need a plethora of lawyers and all the other individuals necessary to deal with liability issues, which are a matter for the courts. The legal issues are not a matter for the PIAB. It is being set up to assess what people are entitled to and ensure it is paid to them as quickly as possible. That is its whole function and purpose. The issue of liability does not...
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: We need to give discretion to the board. What may be declined in the first few months of the existence of the board may be something the board is capable of handling in time. We are talking about unusual cases where perhaps the medical evidence is uncertain. The Senator said that there is not much case history available. That will change over time. What may be unsuitable for the board in its...
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: The issue must be looked at on a case by case basis which is where the matter of discretion arises. The removal of discretion could remove from the board a host of activity with which it is capable of dealing.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: This involves trespass cases only and is included at the insistence of the Parliamentary Counsel.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: It is to cover trespass in its broadest sense and could include assault.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: The intention would be that those cases be dealt with elsewhere, subject to discretion.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: I am advised that liability is almost always an issue in those cases and for that reason they would automatically be excluded. It is unlikely there would not be an issue of liability in a sexual abuse case. Is that not so?
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: The central issue is often the liability issue which is much more appropriately dealt with in a court.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: It could include assault which does not involve sexual abuse.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: A small fee will be imposed on the claimant which will be returned in the event of a successful claim.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: I presume it will. It will be done by way of regulation or secondary legislation. That has not been discussed but the fee will be low. It would be wrong if there was no fee at all but, essentially, it will be paid for by the respondents.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: The respondents will have to pay the cost of running the organisation, the cost of assessing the cases.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: It will be substantially less than going to court. We are talking about 27,000 cases costing around â¬7 million or â¬8 million per year. I do not know the current costs but they are substantially higher than that.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: It will be related to the level of work, a simple factor that can be assessed quickly. The same fee would not be imposed on a straightforward case as on one that requires more work or consultation with more expertise.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: It will be related to the volume of work the board has to do.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: It will be related to the volume of work and the cost to the board. This will be self-financing, we will not make a profit on the operation of the PIAB. The small fees paid by claimants will be returned when they are successful and the only fees that will be held will be those where the claimant does not get an award. The insurance companies will pay the â¬8 million. I must discuss the...
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: I will get advice on this matter. I agree with the principle except for those people outside the State. I will return on Report Stage with a positive amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Amendments Nos. 17 and 18 not moved. Section 24 agreed to. Sections 25 to 28, inclusive, agreed to. SECTION 29. Amendment No. 19 not moved.