Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

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 do not anticipate there will be complicated documents or that the application form will be complex. If a claim is made by an individual the social insurance number and identity of the claimant must be confirmed. The claimant may not be sure who is the insurer. Fourteen days is a short period and could be unreasonable if, for example, it coincided with a holiday period. What we want is something workable and practical, speedy but done in accordance with the board's rules rather than written into the statute.

There are significant references to time limits later in the Bill. These are time limits for the respondent to respond to the assessment and for the claimant to respond, within which the claim must be made and on the PIAB as well as extensions in certain circumstances. There are many time-related limits in the Bill for good reasons, not just for efficiency, but as regards the claimant's rights under the Constitution. One has to ensure the claimant is not denied the right to proceed to litigation perhaps at a subsequent stage if he or she is not particularly happy with the PIAB's assessment. Such a process should not be unduly delayed. That is why there are the type of time limits as proposed in the Bill.