Results 24,521-24,540 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: I will clarify that matter. It would not be acceptable to do a freedom of information request to find out if Mary Harney made a claim and to see her medical evidence. What we are talking about is making the information available to people who need it in order to carry out their job. The information will not go on the website or be published.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: Under the current regime it takes a great deal of time for one to get one's entitlement and six times longer than in the UK. The whole purpose of the Bill is to expedite the delivery times so people can receive their entitlements much more quickly. There are specific time limits in the Bill. We are talking about a period of 15 months from the time the claim is made. The claimant has a year in...
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: If the Senator is referring to the legal issue as to who is responsible for a particular case I am not getting involved in that. The entire working of the PIAB is based on simplicity of approach. Form filling will be simple and clear. The PIAB will itself be involved in educating the public and disseminating information as to procedure. It is about doing things in a consumer friendly way. I...
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: There is an initial period of nine months and then a further period, in certain cases, of six months.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: That is the idea.
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: I certainly cannot accept this and if I do the PIAB will be killed before it starts and everyone knows what will be the effect of that. There are times when the respondent may have full indemnity, for example if an employee falls off a chair at work, the respondent may decide to pay the compensation and then to sue the chair manufacturer. We cannot have a situation whereby in order to use the...
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: Does the Senator mean after the 15 months has elapsed?
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: Currently it takes a couple of years for a claimant to get a case into court. Only about 10% of cases end up in court, 90% are settled either in advance of the hearing or at the door of the court. Even under the current system very few cases go to court. My Department has received strong legal advice from the Attorney General on this legislation. The kind of safeguards that we would all want...
- Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (24 Nov 2003)
Mary Harney: I will have plenty of work for the Senator. He need not worry about that.
- 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.