Anthony Lawlor (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Cathaoirleach mentioned earlier, the hours put in last week on the abortion legislation and the judicial appointments Bill were phenomenal, and I wish the staff a happy Christmas and a prosperous new year too.

I wish to raise an issue I have been raising constantly, namely, the payouts associated with soft tissue injuries and the legacy this has left on every one of us here. Only at the weekend there was an article in The Sunday Timesaccording to which, typically, the legal profession blocked a potential Bill from coming before the Dáil and Seanad which would regulate the amount of moneys being paid out in this regard. The Bar of Ireland and the Law Society of Ireland both blocked the chair of the Personal Injuries Commission, Nicholas Kearns, from potentially bringing forward legislation that might be useful in saving each and every one of us money. The Insurance Ireland representative quoted was very much in favour of this type of legislation being brought forward. Perhaps the onus is on us to bring forward Private Members' legislation that would allow for regulation of the payouts being made, which are four and a half times more than in the UK, and the bulk of that goes to the legal profession.