Eamon Scanlon (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the provision for a book of quantum as this should contribute to the standardisation of claims and lead to a further streamlining of the claims process. Once there is agreement that there is a valid claim, all the parties involved will simply be able to examine the going rate of compensation for the particular type of injury sustained. In this case it will not even be necessary to contact the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, which should cut down on the costs involved still further.

There should be some degree of flexibility contained within the book of quantum. Everyone knows that injuries can vary significantly in degree and even similar injuries can result in varying levels of trauma for two different victims. In such circumstances, measures should be built in to ensure that the claimant is given all that they deserve and not just treated in the same manner as someone whose injury, though similar, has not been affected to the same extent. It is merely a matter of getting the balance right and I am sure the board will address these issues when it begins preparing the book of quantum.

The idea of a book of quantum is good and should be introduced into other areas of public life. Perhaps a similar book of insurance prices, which would include the comparative prices in other countries, could be put together. We could then, perhaps, see how much value for money the insurance companies are providing and we might also witness some real competition between those companies.

The Government deserves to be congratulated for taking on the legal profession. We all know how strong a lobby lawyers and their representative bodies present. However, the Government did not allow that to deter it in arriving at a solution which will not be popular among lawyers. I noted with interest the criticism by the director general of the Law Society of Ireland, Mr. Ken Murphy, in The Irish Times yesterday. While I would argue that most of the criticisms contained in his piece were those of promoting the interests of his organisation and its members, I found one point he made worth further examination.