Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The legislation is about preventing the rip off of the consumer or the system. It provides for efficient and effective services and competitive approaches to the way issues are addressed by society. Much will be said in the coming months and years about the threat to competitiveness in Ireland but the theme of analysis conducted by the National Competitiveness Council and other bodies is similar. They are saying the domestic economy is still not competitive enough and competitive forces have yet to be unleashed. While the FDI sector is productive and competitive, the domestic sector needs more competition. That is why we abolished the Groceries Order, to which there was much opposition. The PIAB is a good illustration of how the Government and the Oireachtas can bring in new mechanisms and approaches that are more efficient and competitive, which reduce costs for businesses and ordinary people. The board has achieved this dramatically.

Senator Leyden referred to the number of businesses and people complaining about job losses because of cost issues in the economy. However, the costs involves in these cases are not needed and, as Senator O'Toole said, this is simple stuff. The day is long gone when bills of £1,800 were racked up for form filling in such cases. That is no longer sustainable or tenable in a modern Ireland, which must be competitive in the global environment. Senator Hanafin articulated the economic impact of the legal changes.

I pay tribute to Senator O'Toole for his role as vice-chairman of the PIAB, where he was very effective. Both himself and Dorothea Dowling, the chairperson, have given some service to the State, as Senator Terry Leyden said. However, PIAB claimants receive their compensation in a non-adversarial system and this cannot be overstated. A client attended my clinic recently and I had to tell him I could not act in the case because of the challenge to the PIAB, which is in the higher courts. We cannot say to people that they should not do X, Y or Z. The client to whom I spoke is under enormous stress to have his personal injuries claim addressed. That is replicated throughout the system. However, the PIAB has removed much of the stress and trauma for claimants because they do not have to wait impossibly long times for the resolution of their cases.

Processing costs under the board are calculated on a fixed cost basis and they are 70% cheaper than under the old litigation system. On accepted awards, actual savings of €45 million have been made to date. These savings occurred without any diminution in the size of awards to the injured parties. The board promotes the early settlement of claims to a service centre, which is open six days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

By facilitating contact and the exchange of papers between the parties, it is estimated that 40% of claims are resolved before assessment by the PIAB. To date the PIAB has made over 10,000 assessments and it has delivered its assessments, on average, 75% faster than the law courts. The average time frame for an assessment to be made is 7.4 months from the date of consent, which is extremely favourable when compared to 36 months under the old system.

It has freed up the courts. The number of High Court cases has reduced from over 15,000 in 2004 to approximately 2,500 in 2006. Need we say any more than that? The estimated numbers of personal injury cases in the Circuit Court have fallen from 20,000 in 2004 to 5,000 in 2006.

I note Senator Cassidy has joined us this evening. When he chaired the relevant Oireachtas committee he did enormous work on the insurance question, and he knows the impact this legislation has had. Monthly insurance cost indices produced by the Central Statistics Office show that the cost of consumers' motor insurance is now at May 1997 levels. It is an extraordinary story and it is very rarely one can point to something like this, with the cost being brought back to the level of ten years ago.

These are significant benefits to claimants and society as a whole. There will be no going back to pre-PIAB days. I reiterate that the Government stands four square behind the PIAB in its efforts to make this work. The Oireachtas entrusted this task and these set of objectives to the board in terms of its interpretation of the will of the people to do things better in Ireland, to do them more simply, more efficiently and more effectively.

I mentioned motor insurance. Data from the CSO also shows that the cost of home insurance in May 2007 has dropped to below November 2001 levels. A report on RTE's "Drive Time" in November 2006 also indicated IBEC's view that employers' liability insurance costs do not represent the burden they once were. Those are very significant factors, outcomes and outputs from this project.

The PIAB offers an independent and impartial monetary assessment of damages based on medical evidence in a non-adversarial document-based system without the need for an oral hearing. Claimants can be assured that the amount of damage reflects what is awarded in the courts and it is a matter for each claimant to either accept or reject this fair and impartial assessment. If they decide to reject this assessment and enter the litigation route, they must be aware that there are risks regarding legal costs.

There is no intention in this amendment to the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act to interfere with claimants' rights of access to the courts. However, the Bill is entirely consistent with the objectives of the principal Act, to prohibit in the interests of the common good the bringing of unnecessary legal proceedings. I believe the Act and this Bill to be definitively pro-consumer in so much as it highlights the cost risks in taking legal proceedings and it contributes, and will continue to contribute, to lower insurance costs.

At this stage I appeal to Senator Coghlan and Fine Gael to withdraw the opposition, as it is misplaced. Their stance seems anti-consumer and against the best interests of the common good and our overall desire to make our system more competitive, effective, and above all, non-adversarial for the thousands of claimants in the country.