Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I convey the apologies of my colleague, the Minister, Jim O'Callaghan, who regrets that he cannot be here because he unfortunately has another commitment at this time. He has asked me to reply to Senator Nelson Murray and to thank her for raising this important issue, which I know is very important to her.The Senator has been one of the strongest advocates on this matter. I appreciate her giving me the opportunity to provide some clarity on some of the areas of the personal injury guidelines that have been drawn up for implementation. I know the Senator is very familiar with all of this but I will just say at the outset that it is not a matter for the Minister for Justice to approve the adoption of the guidelines. The Minister shares the concerns the Senator has raised regarding inflation and has been consulting with his ministerial colleagues and the Attorney General on the issues in terms of reviewing the situation.

As the Senator mentioned, under the Judicial Council Act 2019, the Judicial Council, which is independent in its functions, has the responsibility for drawing up and reviewing the personal injuries guidelines. The first iteration of the personal injuries guidelines came about in April 2021 and have had a clear and significant cost-saving impact since their introduction. Claim volumes dropped, the average award value decreased by 20%, and legal costs for those settling through the Injuries Resolution Board comprised 4% of the total settled cost compared to 43% through litigation. In addition, the time take to resolve matters is much shorter under the IRB process.

That being said, the guidelines were challenged in the Delaney v.PIAB case. While the Supreme Court upheld the guidelines, it identified deficiencies in the underpinning legislation. This was amended by the Oireachtas in the Courts, Civil Law, Criminal Law and Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2024.

In accordance with the 2019 Act, as amended, the Judicial Council has conducted a review of the guidelines and submitted draft amendments to the Minister for Justice to enable the laying of the draft amendments before the Oireachtas. The draft guidelines submitted to the Minister by the council propose an across-the-board increase of 16.7% in compensation amounts, as the Senator mentioned. This figure aligns to the increase in the harmonised index of consumer prices, HICP, over the period from which the guidelines were last agreed in 2021. Section 7(2)(b) of the 2019 Act requires that the Minister for Justice lay those revised guidelines before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as is practicable. The legislation provides that the draft guidelines must be approved by a resolution of both Houses of the Oireachtas before they can be brought into operation. The Oireachtas will have the opportunity to debate the matter once the resolutions on the adoption of the guidelines are tabled. The Minister wants to stress, however, that the legislation passed by the Houses last year does not provide for amendment of the guidelines by the Oireachtas. Assuming the resolutions have been approved by the House, the Judicial Council will then meet formally to adopt the guidelines. This is in keeping with the amendments to the 2019 Act as adopted last year.

I should add that the Minister, Jim O'Callaghan, is reviewing the relevant provisions of the Judicial Council Act 2019 to see what amendments can be made to make further reviews of the personal injuries guidelines more inclusive and transparent. This may include making changes to the mechanism and the timing of future reviews of the guidelines, and the possibility of increasing the monetary jurisdictions of the District and Circuit Courts.