Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I second the amendment. The Labour Party raised a similar issue yesterday. This feature of the legislation is a major catch-22 for the individual claimant. It is another aspect of the legislation that disadvantages the claimant relative to the respondent. If the claimant is not happy with the board's determination, he or she is faced with the prospect of having everything reviewed again at a court hearing. That will be a disincentive to a claimant in terms of going to court even though he or she might think there is a case to be made and that his or her unhappiness with the board's determination is well-founded. A claimant might decide it is better to settle for the PIAB offer rather than face the uncertain outcome of court proceedings. My colleague, Senator McDowell, mentioned yesterday that time will have elapsed at that stage and the prospect of making a good case in court will have diminished accordingly. This is a fundamental problem with the legislation. Fine Gael is suggesting, as is the Labour Party, that if a case goes back to court where the claimant is not happy with the board's decision, then liability should not be an issue. It should be simply an issue of assessment. I would strongly agree with that.