Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister back to the House to deal with this second item on our agenda for today.

The background to this Bill lies in the fact that Ireland has become immersed in a compensation culture. It is unfortunate that, when they have accidents, many people feel they are entitled to compensation. We are all obliged to pay for that attitude. The emergence of the culture to which I refer has led to false and greatly exaggerated claims. Everyone will agree that many of the claims which have been made were false. Claimants have not been alone in pursuing claims. They have been helped by members of the legal profession in seeking compensation. This is undesirable.

As the Minister stated, claims of a false or exaggerated nature only add to insurance costs. I am glad that competition has increased in the insurance area and that some reductions have been forthcoming. The Bill will provide major assistance in terms of tackling false insurance claims, thereby bringing about a reduction in insurance costs, but why was it not brought forward sooner? I accept that the Minister was not a member of the previous Government. However, Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats have been in power for seven years. I would have welcomed the Bill's introduction at an earlier stage but we must deal with it now.

Many of the Bill's provisions seem to restate existing practice. It does not, therefore, contain a great deal of new material. Section 5 deals with the application of the Bill and states that various sections will only apply to actions brought after the legislation commences. I am not sure what the word "brought" means in that instance.