Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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252. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the reason the Personal Injuries Commission has no consumer representatives other than Competition and Consumer Protection Commission officials. [14920/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The membership of the Personal Injuries Commission, chaired by Justice Nicholas Kearns, includes representatives from my Department, the Department of Justice and Equality, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, the Bar Council, the Law Society, Insurance Ireland, the State Claims Agency as well as the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).

I am satisfied that the PIC membership, as outlined above, includes representation from consumer stakeholders, including the business community.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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253. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the details of data (details supplied) in each of the years 2010 to 2017 and to date in 2018, in tabular form. [14921/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The following Table details the number of applications received by the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) each year from 2010 to end February 2018 and the number of assessments accepted for that period. The remainder of cases are, either released by the issuing of an authorisation under section 14 (where the respondent does not consent to an assessment or liability may be an issue), or under section 17 (where the Board has discretion not to make an assessment in certain situations specified in the legislation) or under section 32 (where the claimant or respondent does not accept the assessment) or are cases that are not completed usually because they are settled during the PIAB process or withdrawn.  There is no data available on cases settled directly between the parties outside of the Court and PIAB process.  An authorisation by PIAB is necessary before a claimant can initiate proceedings in Court.

PIAB cases are dealt with speedily and at a low cost, the current delivery cost is approximately 6.5% of the value of the compensation and this is mainly comprised of the fees paid by the claimant and respondent and the costs of the medical reports required to assess the case. Comparable figures for litigation are not available.  However, the Cost of Insurance Working Group Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance published by the then Minister for Finance in January 2017 estimated that the delivery costs for cases settled outside the PIAB model from data provided by a representative sample of Insurance Ireland members was 44.2% in 2015.

Table of Applications to PIAB, Accepted Awards and Delivery Costs on Accepted Awards

Source: PIAB Annual Reports.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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254. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on amending the PIAB Acts to provide that a claimant who is found to have made deliberately unsustainable claims in the course of their PIAB claim shall not be entitled to an order for legal costs in a subsequent litigation. [14922/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Section 51 of the PIAB Acts provides that PIAB assessments shall not be admissible in any subsequent proceedings unless the proceedings concerned relate to the enforcement of any assessment that is being accepted.

There are a number of pieces of legislation that come under the remit of my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality Charlie Flanagan T.D., to deal with exaggerated or fraudulent claims, namely the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 and the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.

I have no plans to amend the PIAB Acts in this regard.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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255. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on a revised book of quantum whereby modest injuries attract modest damages, while more severe injuries receive damages of a level appropriate to the injury and loss of earnings suffered; her further views on the UK system of care not cash for minor bodily injuries. [14923/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) is an independent statutory agency and I, as Minister, am not permitted in my executive function to interfere in any way with the day to day operations and functions of PIAB. 

Section 54 of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003 sets out the principal functions of the Board. Section 54(1)(b) states: ‘to prepare and publish a document (which shall be known as the ‘‘Book of Quantum’’) containing general guidelines as to the amounts that may be awarded or assessed in respect of specified types of injury’ 

The revised Book of Quantum was published in October 2016.  The Book was compiled by independent consultants and commissioned by the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB).

The Book is not a recommendation for compensation levels but rather a reflection of the prevailing level of awards, i.e.:

- compensation values awarded by the courts

- settlements agreed by the Insurance Industry

- settlements agreed by the State Claims Agency; and

- settlements agreed through the PIAB process.

The establishment of the Personal Injuries Commission was one of the key recommendations in the Cost of Insurance Working Group Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance published in January 2017 by the then Minister for Finance, Mr Michael Noonan T.D., and the then Minister of State for Financial Services, Mr Eoghan Murphy T.D.  The Report sets out the terms of reference for the Personal Injuries Commission.  The Commission as part of its second Report has been asked to report on care not cash models.  It is anticipated that this Report will be published in Q2 of 2018.