Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

Again, a large number of these amendments are technical in character. Amendment No. 20 deletes the original subsection and substitutes two new subsections. Subsection (4) clarifies the intention of the section with regard to the powers of the rules of court committee. Subsection (5) is necessary to ensure that the reference to the courts earlier in the section includes the Master of the High Court and county registrars.

Amendment No. 21 deletes lines 19 to 27 in page 12. These sections related to the lodgement of pleadings in the relevant courts. Following extensive discussion on this issue in the Dáil, the Minister considered that such lodgements would prove time consuming and expensive for the Courts Service. There was a provision in the original legislation that pleadings would have to be lodged in court as another additional requirement in personal injuries proceedings and proceedings generally and the Minister believed that to insist on this would add to the cost of litigation and the burden on litigants and the burden on the Courts Service. Accordingly, he accepted an amendment deleting these provisions.

Amendments Nos. 24, 26, 28, 29 and 31 were introduced by the Minister to meet some concerns about the wording of the relevant section which relates to offers in settlement. It was felt that the use of the term "final offer" could indicate that the prescribed date would occur late in the proceedings. The Minister considered that it would be better to use the term "formal offer", which would allow more flexibility on the timing of the prescribed date.

Amendment No. 36 provides that the register of personal injuries action include information regarding the name and address of the solicitor for each party to the action.

Amendment No. 37 was accepted by the Minister following much discussion on the publication of the register on the Internet. The amended section now provides that the Courts Service shall make the register available to those who have established to their satisfaction a sufficient interest in seeking access to it. As I understand it, the former provision was a general publication through the Internet. That is being modified so that the register can be made available to those who have shown a sufficient interest in seeking access to it. It is difficult to strike a balance between making information available on the one hand and making it available to persons who simply wish to have it for prying reasons, or to know if their neighbour has taken an action. This is the balance that has been struck.