David Norris (Independent)

I strongly support Senator Terry, particularly her opening remarks where she referred to claims that are not frivolous or vexatious. In most cases, the claimants are genuine. The question of time is important for a number of reasons. In the traumatic aftermath of an injury, either through an accident or due to medical negligence, the first thing people worry about is getting better.

I have a letter from the Law Society, which is a body I am sure the Minister will regard with considerable respect. It described the measure with the following three adjectives, entirely "unrealistic", "unjust" and "unfair". That is the opinion of the Law Society. It is not a lobby group for patients, worthy though those are, but a senior body entrusted with monitoring and looking at the effective application of the law. The letter went on, in particular, to take up the question of victims of medical negligence, about which Senator Terry spoke. It made a number of significant and telling points and I hope in light of them and of Senator Terry's excellent arguments, the Minister will be disposed to look at this again and accept the amendment.

There is something special about victims of medical negligence because under the terms of the legislation they are excluded from the scope of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board. If somebody registers with the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, the clock stops while that is being examined, which gives claimants extra time. People who are taking cases on the grounds of medical negligence do not have the extra time that is afforded to all other cases, which appears to be a serious inequity. The situation for people who are alleged victims of medical negligence gives rise to the whole question, which we went through on Second Stage so I will not labour the point, of access to medical records and so on. It can be a long drawn-out process. It often takes a long time for people to get a clear and definite prognosis of their chances of recovery, what the long-term treatment plan will be and so on. Ironically, because there is uncertainty and they may not have a full grasp of the picture because of the absence of it in these things, there will undoubtedly be a tendency to issue proceedings in a pre-emptive way, so it could paradoxically be that the operation of this time clause would result in more people just shoving in claims. I know that is not at all what the Minister is intent on achieving. For those reasons I am happy to support Senator Terry's amendment. I hope the Minister will look kindly upon it.