Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Tá áthas orm an Bille fán mBord um Réiteach Díobhálacha Pearsanta 2022 a thabhairt os comhair an Tí seo. Is Bille tábhachtach é seo a sheachadann an gealltanas sa chlár don Rialtas an Bord Measúnaithe Díobhálacha Pearsanta a fheabhsú agus a athchóiriú.

I acknowledge the co-operative support of Teachtaí Dála during their consideration of the Bill in the Lower House. Building on the positive engagement during pre-legislative scrutiny, I would particularly like to note the constructive engagement that I have had with Deputies Louise O’Reilly and Matt Shanahan and Senator Mullen. I acknowledge and pay tribute to the work undertaken by my colleague, Deputy Robert Troy, in conceiving and developing this Bill. Deputy Troy's leadership in this area and his work with stakeholders in recent months has resulted in the Bill we are considering today.

There is no single policy or legislative fix to remedy issues around the cost and availability of insurance. It needs sustained action across a range of policy areas. The programme for Government identified a range of issues that the Government is prioritising through the Cabinet subgroup on insurance reform chaired by the Tánaiste and delivering through the Action Plan on Insurance Reform.

Good progress is being made with nearly 90% of the actions in the plan now delivered. Significant actions completed include the introduction of the new personal injuries guidelines, the enactment of legislation to strengthen the laws on perjury, and the establishment of the office to promote competition in the insurance market.

Reform of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, PIAB, which we will discuss here today, is action 19 in the Action Plan for Insurance Reform. PIAB assesses claims for compensation arising from personal injuries sustained because of a motor, workplace or public liability incident. PIAB provides a fair and transparent assessment process in which personal injuries claims are resolved in a straightforward and efficient way. The model is a positive one for society because it delivers compensation more quickly with lower costs and predictable outcomes.

The Central Bank published its Private Motor Insurance Report 4 last week. The report shows that from 2015 to 2021, the average settlement time for injury claims through PIAB was two years. This compared with 3.9 years through litigation. The report also shows that for the same period the average legal costs for private motor insurance claims under €100,000 settled via PIAB was €686 versus €15,567 for a litigated claim despite the average compensation being similar.The PIAB process is much more cost-effective and efficient. The benefits of the model are clear but we can and must do more to ensure claims are resolved in this way. The model can be strengthened to resolve a greater number of personal injury claims. This view is shared by a range of stakeholders.

The purpose of the Bill is to amend the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003, as amended in 2019, to increase the number of personal injury claims resolved by the board without recourse to litigation. The Bill will establish PIAB as a new and enhanced personal injuries resolution board. Central to this will be the introduction of mediation as a new service to resolve personal injury claims. The service offered by the board will follow the recognised principles of mediation, including being a fully voluntary process, ensuring confidentiality and impartiality and providing the opportunity for the parties to determine the issues that requiring resolving. Where the parties do not consent to mediation, the existing process in respect of assessment of a claim remains. An advantage of mediation is the ability for parties to get speedy access to a process that may produce a satisfactory and agreed outcome for them in a short space of time. Mediation is already successfully used by bodies such as the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, and the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman as a means of facilitating the resolution of issues between parties. My proposals are modelled on existing legislation in respect of those bodies.

The Bill contains several amendments to enhance the role of the board regarding promotion of its work and its performance of data analysis and reporting. It allows for the retention of more complex cases, such as wholly psychological ones, by the board. The Bill provides for the issue of costs should a case proceed to litigation. The Government is also introducing a new provision to strengthen the process by making it an offence to provide false or misleading information to the board. This should strengthen and increase confidence in the process, which relies upon accurate and truthful information for its just and proper operation. I thank Senator Mullen for his contribution to this part of the Bill.

Arising from discussion with Deputy Shanahan and Senator Crowe and engagement with stakeholders, I moved an amendment on Report Stage in the Dáil to provide for a ministerial review of the new provisions contained in the Bill 18 months after commencement. This will provide an early opportunity to consider whether the new provisions, including those in respect of mediation, are working as intended. It is important to note that the reforms listed in the Bill, including the introduction of mediation, will not prolong cases. The board will remain obliged, under section 49 of the Act, to assess claims within nine months of confirmation of the respondent's consent to the assessment process, notwithstanding some exceptional circumstances provided for in the legislation.

I will now summarise the main provisions of the Bill. Section 2 provides for the change of name of PIAB to the personal injuries resolution board to reflect its new functions.

Section 3 sets out the application process to allow claimants to make an application for mediation, assessment or both and the mandatory elements thereof, including the requirement to supply a personal public service number or alternative identification.

Sections 4 and 5 provide for the notification by the board of a claimant's application to the respondent, to ask whether the respondent consents to mediation, assessment or both and provision for the procedures to be followed by the board afterwards.

Section 6 provides that where a respondent consents to mediation or assessment or both of a relevant claim or is deemed to consent to assessment, this will not be considered to be an admission of liability with regard to the relevant claim.

Section 7 expands the types of claims that will be considered by the board by removing its discretion not to make an assessment for claims of a wholly psychological nature or where a long-term prognosis is not yet available.

Section 8 extends the provisions relating to presumption of capacity of both the claimant and the respondent regarding the making of an assessment to include mediation.

Section 9 introduces a new chapter 1A to the principal Act containing six sections, that is, sections 18A to 18F, inclusive, which introduce mediation as a new service to resolve claims under the board's process. This chapter details the mediation process and outlines how a mediation is completed. An unsuccessful mediation will move to assessment where a respondent has consented to same. Section 10 updates the reference in section 19 of the principal Act to provide for mediation.

Section 11 provides that the board, with the consent of the Minister, may make regulations to impose charges in respect of its services. The section provides that where a respondent has failed to pay the relevant fee to the board in the required timeframe, the board can apply an additional administrative charge.

Section 12 amends section 38 of the principal Act and sets out that where a monetary value has been agreed in mediation, the board will issue an order to pay. It provides for an order to pay to include any outstanding charges payable to the board by the respondent.

Section 13 sets out the procedure to be followed where a claimant withdraws consent previously given to the board to retain a claim past the statutory timeframes set out in section 49 of the Act.

Section 14 enables the board to retain claims where, based on a medical report, a long-term prognosis will not be available under the nine-month statutory timeframe. It provides for up to an extra two years, in addition to the nine months, for a long-term prognosis to become available.

Section 15 provides that the extended time allowed for a long-term prognosis to become available, as provided for under section 14, will be included for the purposes of pausing the statute of limitations. This will be while claims are with the board and for a period of six months after it issues an authorisation.

Section 16 is particularly noteworthy. Its purpose is to encourage greater acceptance of awards by the board, particularly as both the board and the courts must now assess personal injury claims under the personal injury guidelines. It sets out procedures for a claim that has left the board following an assessment, has been accepted by the respondent but rejected by the claimant, and has proceeded to litigation. Where a claimant brings proceedings in such circumstances, no award of costs may be made in his or her favour where the award does not exceed the board's assessment. The section also provides that the assessment value will be deemed to be an offer of tender of payment made by the defendant as of the date the respondent accepted or was deemed to have accepted the assessment. This serves to limit, in certain circumstances, the level of costs a respondent may have to pay up to the point of the acceptance date.

Section 17 provides for four new functions to be accorded to the board. These are: one, to facilitate the resolution of claims through mediation; two, to collect and publish information relating to personal injury claims, including awards made under the personal injury guidelines; three, to conduct or commission research, analysis or studies on matters relating to the function of the board; and, four, to promote awareness of the role of the board and the benefits of resolving claims through it.

Section 18 extends the requirement for certain persons to provide information to the board.

Section 19 provides that mediators appointed from a panel will have the same indemnity for their work as will mediators who are members of staff of the board.

Section 20 provides that the board may report suspected offences to An Garda Síochána.

Section 21 provides that the board shall provide the Minister with information about the performance of its functions.

Section 22 sets out that the provision of false or misleading information to the board by a claimant, respondent or third party is an offence.

Section 23 provides that the amendments to the principal Act effected by the Bill will be reviewed by the Minister 18 months after commencement of the section. A report on the findings of the review and the conclusions drawn from those findings will be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas.

Section 24 provides for the exclusion of the mediation process from the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2014. This is required as mediation is a confidential process.

Section 25 provides the Short Title of the Bill and the citation and makes provision for enactment by statutory instrument.

The Bill has been developed through extensive engagement with consumers, businesses, community groups and bodies such as the Alliance for Insurance Reform. The resounding message from all is the urgent need for reform. The Bill seeks to deliver that reform while respecting the fundamental right of access to our courts. The cost of claims is a large driver of insurance premiums. The Bill will increase the number of claims settled through an enhanced resolution process and reduce the cost of claims. This should and must impact positively on the cost of insurance, which is vital for many businesses and groups across our country. As acknowledged by the joint committee and as I know from recent meetings with stakeholders on the legislation, it is important that we now enact the Bill. I commend it to the House.