Derek McDowell (Labour)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate. The Labour Party supports the Bill, in principle. Our spokesperson in the Dáil, Deputy Howlin, served on the sub-committee of the Joint Committee on Enterprise and Small Business which dealt with this issue during the summer recess and endorsed, on our behalf, the findings of that sub-committee, which include a recommendation that the establishment of the board be expedited immediately. We support the Bill, in principle, because we believe it is appropriate to introduce a mechanism, it could be called a "clearing house", whereby cases which are not disputed in terms of liability will be dealt with expeditiously. This offers the possibility that claimants will receive compensation they are due earlier and more efficiently than might otherwise be the case. The Bill will achieve this by putting in place a more streamlined procedure, which will involve fewer lawyers.

The Minister of State is aware that I have a certificate to practice law. However, I have not entered a court for a long period. It is important to state that we are not seeking to create a lawyer-free zone simply for the sake of doing so. Lawyers serve a purpose within the criminal and civil justice systems in that they play an important role in upholding people's rights. Lawyers give people advice, which they are entitled to accept or ignore. It is remarkable that Senator Scanlon referred to appointing claimant officers within the structure of the board. I do not know the origin of that idea, but I imagine we will hear more about it. It is obvious that such officers would be civil servants or whatever within the board who would guide people through the process. Perhaps that has merit but why not provide for independent legal or other advice to be given to individuals? They should be entitled to be advised by people they trust or choose to employ and it is not relevant whether somebody is appointed to the board. By seeking to argue for such advice, Senator Scanlon accepts that people need to be guided through the system.

Everyone who has been involved in processing a claim will be aware the system is convoluted and the requirements of court can be, at times, bewildering but they are intended, and have evolved, to provide a balance between getting the right result at the end of the day and ensuring people's rights are upheld during the process. If an individual believes he or she is required to deal directly with the board and vice versa, mistakes will be made. People will fail to adduce evidence in their own interests and recommendations that are made, which will no doubt be accepted, will be lower than the amount to which the claimants would have been entitled. We must be conscious of this and seek to avoid such a scenario.