John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I also support the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill. As a member of the Joint Committee on Enterprise and Small Business, I was proud to have been part of the group that took submissions and played some part in the establishment of the PIAB. I remember those submissions and I remember jobs being lost at the beginning of the last Dáil and this Seanad because people could not get insurance. Even if they were prepared to pay the large premiums, businesses were closing and we needed to take action. The Government took positive action and the PIAB is one of the great successes of the last Dáil and this Seanad.

The provisions of the Bill are as follows. Section 1 provides that two new sections are added to the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003. The new Section 51A provides that where a claimant rejects a PIAB assessment that has been accepted by a respondent and where he or she fails in any subsequent proceedings to get more than the amount of the PIAB assessment, he or she will not be entitled to legal costs. Section 51B provides that no legal costs shall be allowed for the making of an application to the PIAB. There are no costs to the Exchequer as a result of the provisions of the Bill.

International interest in the PIAB model is encouraging. It seems that Ireland is once again the inspiration for how others might do things better. It is one of the non-financial benefits of the new alternative. Even more satisfying is the growing evidence that those who are entitled to compensation are getting their money more quickly without the stress of adversarial litigation and in the broader context without society paying the bill for avoidable costs often involved in the old system. This is not to deny the most important role of the courts. It is solely the preserve of the Judiciary to administer justice in cases that are defended. Such challenges still arise, either on the basis of liability for the accident or to attack the extent of damages alleged, especially with the new provisions on exaggerated claims under the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004.

The PIAB is but one part of the Government's insurance reform programme but its success has extended beyond the role of the statutory assessors making awards on cases within its remit, as it is clear that a new culture has developed. Gone, or at least departing, are the days when potential defendants denied everything including the actual occurrence of an accident which even they themselves may have witnessed. This has been replaced with a more realistic, if only pragmatic, approach that there is little point in incurring substantial litigation costs on a case that a judge is not likely to dismiss when the alternative now exists of an early resolution to the benefit of the injured party as well as the financial benefits to respondents, many of whom are now insured at a lower cost than in the last century. This can be only good for the health of the Irish economy especially with the new competitive challenges ahead in the expanded EU context.

The PIAB has focused on facilitating early resolution of claims and this has been achieved by facilitating effective communication between the core parties, those injured and those liable to pay compensation. It is clear that redress is best served by prompt investigation, required by the PIAB 90-day timeline, and a non-adversarial system which focuses on compensating victims of personal injury accidents and those responsible. The lower volume of cases involving dispute over liability are released by the PIAB for adjudication in the courts.

The impact of the PIAB on society is most evident in our review of the Courts Service data where 15,000 High Court writs were issued in 2004 compared with 750 in 2005. The figures are more compelling in the Circuit Court where some 20,000 civil bills in respect of personal injury claims were issued in 2004 and approximately 3,000 in 2005. This is significant and permits the courts to focus on the wide range of other cases which require court time.

Regarding savings on the cost of delivering compensation, the PIAB confirms a saving of €4 million on litigation costs in 2005. At the time of releasing the PIAB report in 2006, this figure had moved to €13.1 million in July 2006 and projecting those volumes conservatively this figure was expected to rise to more than €20 million at the close of 2006.

The work of the Minister, the Department and the Joint Committee on Enterprise and Small Business, and the resolve of Oireachtas to introduce the PIAB deserve our continuing support. I commend the Bill to the House.