Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

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 PIAB one has to put one's hands up and admit liability and pay all. There may be others involved.

Both Senators know that the result of not parking liability or of the respondents admitting liability would be that this board would never happen. The respondents will be paying for this service. The insurance companies will effectively pay for the PIAB. The idea that they would run things through it, pay the associated costs and then go to court is unacceptable. The argument has no credibility. Obviously, we cannot say there is no evidence for it as it has not started yet but I would be amazed if somebody who will pay the bill at the end of the day would decide to take this route and then at the eleventh hour as it were, decide to pursue the matter through the legal process.