Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

Among the public who have heard about the Tánaiste's proposals in this regard, a view is setting in that there will be set awards for most injuries. I am sure things will not be as simple as that. A simplistic way of considering the book of quantum would be to look at recent court awards and to calculate an average of typical awards for a broken arm or back injury, for example, taking account of individual circumstances. Notwithstanding the fact that a percentage of each award relates to legal costs – that is a debate in itself – does the Tánaiste consider that present levels of awards are generally fair, compared with awards in Britain and Europe?