Linda Nelson Murray (Fine Gael)

In light of tomorrow's sub-Cabinet meeting, I am making my final call to the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, to not increase the personal injury guidelines. We cannot let the progressive, reforming work of countless Ministers in recent years be thrown away at perhaps the stroke of a pen which would decimate countless family businesses throughout the country, particularly in my home county of Meath. If this measure goes ahead, all our premiums will increase, especially business premiums, and businesses are the backbone of our economy. While the worry is that people will skip the Injuries Resolution Board in search of higher discretionary awards, as only 4% of claims are settled before judges, I am not even remotely persuaded that there will be a mass exodus from the Injuries Resolution Board as people head off to wait another five or six years to go through the courts.

The other reason I am hearing is that we have left ourselves with no choice but to accept the findings of the Judicial Council. We should have clear separation of powers. The Supreme Court made clear last year that the guidelines would only be constitutionally permissible if they were approved or consented to by the Oireachtas. If we have no choice but to consent to them, then this consent is not freely given and runs contrary to the holding of the Supreme Court in the Delaney case last year. The recommendations from the committee say that, "The committee did not find it possible to carry out any meaningful analysis of the quantum of court awards given under the Guidelines [to date] that might inform this review." We did not, therefore, have the meaningful analysis and an increase of 16.7% was recommended instead.

The Judicial Council Act 2019 made clear that rigorous analysis should take place, including consulting with the personal injuries assessment board. No such engagement took place, despite the thousands of cases the board processed since the guidelines were introduced in 2021. Presently, without these increases, awards in Ireland for minor back injuries are between €12,000 and €20,000. In England, it is a maximum of £8,300. Awards for minor shoulder or soft tissue injury are up to €12,000, whereas in England it is £5,200. Awards for a minor ankle sprain in Ireland are up to €12,000 and in England it is up to £6,300. Awards for a minor foot fracture in Ireland go up to €20,000 compared with a maximum of £12,700 in England. Our awards are way higher and that is without the increase of 16.7%. I am here to put my trust in all who are sitting at the sub-Cabinet meeting tomorrow. I am trusting in all of them not to allow the personal injury guidelines to go through. It is not the right time.