Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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160. To ask the Minister for Finance when the Supreme Court will give a judgment on an appeal (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16038/17]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Law Society v Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) case was heard by the Supreme Court of Ireland in October 2016.  The outcome of that case is currently awaited.  No date has been specified for the delivery of the judgment.

As you are aware the judiciary are a separate and independent branch of the state and therefore the timing of the delivery of their decision is a matter for them to decide and it is not something that I have any influence over.

If the High Court ruling is upheld then MIBI will compensate third parties fully up to a limit of €1,220,000 per claim for property, regardless of the number of claimants. If the MIBI appeal succeeds third party claims will be met by the Insurance Compensation Fund (ICF) up to a limit of 65% and a ceiling of €825,000 per claimant.

A small number of additional claims are not affected by the court proceedings and are being processed by the Office of the Accountant of the Courts of Justice due to the fact that they are first party claims and come unambiguously within the remit of the ICF.

The position in relation to third party motor insurance claims is that they are unlikely to be processed until after the outcome of the Supreme Court appeal.

I expect to be able to provide a more up-to-date position after the legal proceedings are concluded.