Derek McDowell (Labour)

We anticipated that the Tánaiste's response would be that agents, that is, solicitors, would be copied correspondence from the PIAB. It is silly and almost petty to state that while one is prepared to copy a letter, one will not acknowledge that a claimant has chosen to be represented by a solicitor by refusing to send a letter directly the solicitor. If one is prepared to accept that a solicitor is involved in the correspondence, one should be courteous and provide that the board send the correspondence directly to the solicitor.

The Tánaiste did not address the issue I tried to tease out with regard to the paper based nature of the process. I appreciate this is the intention and the PIAB should not entail hearings of any kind. I have not, however, seen in the Bill any prohibition on informal contacts which may amount to informal negotiations. If, for example, a claimant telephones the PIAB and asks an assessor whether, for example, an assessment has been reached, which may or may not be the case, will the assessor entertain the possibility of dealing with the individual claimant in what amounts effectively to negotiation?

By ensuring the assessment is acceptable to both sides, one could expedite the whole process and achieve one's objective, namely, a quick, fair and acceptable procedure which produces a result and does not end up in court. The reason I make this point at this stage of the debate is that by allowing telephone or face-to-face contact to take place between the claimant and the assessor, one creates circumstances in which people may require advice or want to be represented.