Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

When the heads of the Bill were published we did not have such deadlines. These time limits are the duty of the board; they have been written into the legislation. It is the intention of the board to deal with things more quickly, but sometimes it could be unfair to a claimant to deal with a case quickly because the medical evidence could be evolving. It is often six or nine months after an injury, sometimes longer, before the evidence is available. That is why there is a provision that where the board feels it cannot make an assessment within a reasonable timeframe, it will issue an authorisation to the person to go through the courts.

The timeframes set out here are reasonable in all circumstances, as Senator McDowell acknowledges. The intention is to deal with things even more speedily, which will be possible in the simpler cases. In many other cases, however, the proceedings will take this long. Telling the claimant that the board cannot make the assessment in this period and giving him or her a date by which it might be able to do so will be the exception rather than the rule.