Results 24,501-24,520 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: Why would someone wish to do that? Why would someone go down that route?
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: In other words, they will contest liability if itâ
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: Senator McDowell is correct that currently many insurers pay up small amounts because it is cheaper than going to court. A person might accept â¬2,000 to â¬5,000, for example, which amount would not obtain much in terms of expert advice. Under the new arrangement all the legislation, particularly the Civil Liability and Courts Bill initiated by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law...
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: I cannot answer questions any more without there being a headline.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: We must be clear about what we are trying to do here. If there are legal issues in dispute, it is always important to have a lawyer. If this board was going to deal with legal issues there would have to be legal representation. However, it will not do that. There will be no oral hearings and legal issues will not be a matter for the PIAB. They are a matter for the courts. A culture has grown...
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: Senator Mansergh has made a fair point. The purpose of the PIAB is to be a friend, rather than an enemy, of claimants and secure their entitlements quickly, efficiently and inexpensively. One pays for this process through one's premium, by putting one's job at risk or by other means. The procedures Senator McDowell described are more appropriate to the rules than the legislation. One cannot...
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: The PIAB must be seen to have a fair, objective procedure. Those with good advocates should not receive more than those who do not. This would raise the possibility that those with legal representation would be able to make a better case and convince an assessor. The assessor will make the recommendation based on the medical facts, rather than dialogue or discussion with the claimant....
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: It is not clear.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: Is the Senator saying that if the claimant has something, they should be allowed to keep it and not give it to the board? Is that the purpose of the amendment?
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: In other words, this is direct contact between the insurer and the insured?
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: The documentation in which the PIAB will have an interest is medical advice and medical evidence. I am not sure it will want to have a host of other documentation. Is the Senator saying that if the PIAB becomes aware of this, it is privileged?
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: Does the Senator mean in subsequent legal action?
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: I will get legal advice on the Senator's amendment. I am open to accepting it subject to legal advice.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: I reject the amendment. It is inappropriate as the Personal Injuries Assessment Board is not restricting parties' decisions in any subsequent litigation. It is now the exception in litigation for doctors to be called as witnesses since the content of exchange reports are usually agreed.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: What we are talking about here is the medical report the claimant will submit to substantiate the claim. Clearly the claimant will ask, seek or inquire of the doctor whether he or she will give a report on their medical condition. I would have thought it a form of consent if one asks a doctor to give a medical report. The doctor gives the report to the claimant who then makes the application...
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: The assessor and respondent gets the report, but that is not quite the public domain. The PIAB assessor will have the report to make the assessment and the respondent will have a copy of it. That is currently normal practice. Doctor-patient issues are a different matter.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: It can be seen by the respondent.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: I will try to explain. If the claimant makes a claim with the medical evidence, it goes to the assessor. It may go to the medical referees who work for the board. Obviously it will have to go to the respondent. It would be totally unreasonable and very unusual if a claimant claimed he or she sustained particularly injuries and the respondent was not aware of the medical allegations being made...
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: Is the Senator referring to a freedom of information request?
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: Not the medical evidence of a particular claimant.