Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for their response to the Bill and the very constructive approach that they have taken. I think everyone has recognised the importance of this legislation and the difference that it will make in people's lives. I certainly acknowledge, as a number of Senators including Senator Gavan have pointed out and spoken about, the huge stress that has been caused and is caused to families because of uncertainty around the care of their children or indeed their relatives who have suffered catastrophic injuries. This has been recommended, as Senator Bacik has said, for quite a long time so I am very pleased that we have it here and I hope that we can work it through the different stages fairly quickly.

I will be tabling a number of amendments but obviously if there are amendments being proposed that I am in a position to accept I will of course do so. There were a number of specific points made on the indexation of periodic payments. Senator Gavan brought that up. There were various recommendations on how to deal with this. An interdepartmental working group to examine the technical aspects of periodic payment orders considered it further. It concluded the most appropriate indexation measure would be the Irish harmonised index of consumer prices, HICP, which measures changes in consumer price inflation across the eurozone and aims to be representative of developments in the prices of all goods and services available for purchase. The interdepartmental group recommended that the effectiveness of that index should be reviewed after five years of operation. That was to deal with the point that the Senator made about the average hourly rate of pay, for example, for certain persons including nurses, physiotherapists or various people, the average cost of medical procedures for the treatment of persons injured and the estimated average cost for medical aids and appliances. That is the best recommendation we have in how to deal with this over a long period and with a review built in at the final stage.

Senators Noone and Conway both welcomed the Bill. Senator Noone made a number of points on the scope of the legislation and the boundaries. Undoubtedly there will be some cases that will fall outside of that definition. Where there are ongoing costs that is quite a difficult issue to decide on. The courts will be looking at that definition and determining precisely who falls within it. We can have a look at that on Committee Stage but I would make the point, and Senator Bacik referenced this, that a lot of work, thought and consultation has gone into it. It is extremely difficult when one is bringing forward legislation that has to deal with a definition such as this. I would not be optimistic about changing it because we have done so much consultation on it, but we might be able to examine some pathways forward or issues that need to be addressed in relation to the points Senator Noone has made.

The Bill is short but the provisions are quite complex. Before introducing it we had to consider very carefully a number of issues: obviously the scope of the legislation, which is the precise point Senators have raised; the powers that we would grant to the courts in respect of periodic payments; the security of periodic payments; the indexation, a point that was also raised here; the treatment in bankruptcy; and the treatment of periodic payments for income tax purposes. The point was also made that this is about the consumers. This is about ensuring that dealing more effectively through the court processes with people who have been catastrophically injured is at the centre of this legislation.

Again, I thank the Senators. Everybody has supported the Bill. There may be some technical points to look at on Committee Stage but I think everyone agrees that it is important legislation to ensure that people will get the care and assistance they need over the course of a lifetime.