Written answers
Tuesday, 13 November 2018
Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
Motor Insurance Costs
Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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292. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the progress to date for each of the 71 action points made in the cost of insurance working group report on motor insurance published in January 2017, in which her Department or the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, PIAB, had lead responsibility for implementation, in tabular form; if each such action point has been completed, not completed or is ongoing; and the revised deadlines for action points not delivered by original timelines committed. [46553/18]
Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Cost of Insurance Working Group Report (CIWG) on the Cost of Motor Insurance was published in January 2017 following approval by Government.
This CIWG Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance makes 33 recommendations with 71 associated actions to be carried out. The recommendations and actions are detailed in an action plan contained in the Report with agreed timelines for implementation.
Minister of State with special responsibility for Financial Services and Insurance, Michael D’Arcy T.D., currently chairs the Working Group on the Cost of Insurance and officials from my Department along with other Departments and Agencies are members of the Group.
The Sixth Progress Update published by Minister D’Arcy in August 2018 sets out detailed progress on each recommendation. I understand that the Seventh Progress Report will be published shortly.
The Table below sets out the progress on implementation of recommendations relevant to my Department and PIAB.
| Recommendations | Lead responsibility | Deadline | Update |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rec 14 – Establish the Personal Injuries Commission (PIC) Action Point 30 Establish a PIC Action Point 31 PIC to investigate and make recommendations on processes in other jurisdictions which could enhance the claims process in Ireland Action point 32 PIC to benchmark international PI awards with those in Ireland and to report on alternative compensation and resolution models. Action Point 33 PIC to deliver their third report. | DBEI | Q 2 2018 | Personal Injuries Commission (PIC) established in January 2017. First Report of the PIC published December 2017. The PIC’s second and third reports were produced as a combined document and submitted to Ministers Humphreys, Donohoe and D’Arcy in July 2018. This Second and Final Report was published following consideration by Government in September 2018. This Report deals predominately with the benchmarking of Irish awards against international awards. Q3 |
| Rec 15. - Assess, within the current review of the PIAB legislation, cases of non- cooperation such as non-attendance at medicals and refusal to provide details of special damages. Action Point 34 Review cases of non-attendance at medicals and refusal to provide details of special damages. Action Point 35 Publish Heads of Bill to enhance powers of PIAB | DBEI | Q 2 2017 | The General Scheme of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Bill 2017 was approved by Government on 27 June 2017 and subsequently published. The General Scheme of the Bill included measures on non-cooperation with the PIAB process. |
| Rec. 16 - Ascertain and set out the measures necessary to implement Pre- Action Protocols (PAPs) for Personal Injury Cases. Action Point 36 Ascertain and set out the necessary measures to implement pre-action protocols in personal injury cases. Action Point 37 Publish Heads of Bill to extend pre-action protocols to personal injury cases. | DBEI/DJE | Q4 2017 | Following further legal advice, DJE are finalising the draft regulations on PAPs for medical negligence actions and are expected to be ready for the Minister for JE in Q4 2018. PAPs in relation to Personal Injury claims are the subject of further discussions with DJE and the Department of Finance including the possibility of a separate legislative treatment for claims that have been assessed by PIAB and those that have not. |
| Rec. 17 - Fully assess viable options for referring rejected PIAB assessments into a judicial process on an appeal basis so that the facts established relating to a personal injury in the PIAB process do not require to be re-established. Action Point 38 Review potential legal and constitutional constraints to the appeal style system | DBEI/DJE | Q4 2017 | Officials of DBEI and DJE examined the issue during the considerations for the CIWG Report and expressed concern that it could introduce an additional legal layer with associated costs and would not prevent a person from taking a de novo case if they wished. The implementation of Rec 15 to address cases of non-cooperation with PIAB through legislation is intended to strengthen the role of PIAB in the assessment of damages. |
| Rec. 18 - Explore with the judiciary how future reviews of the Book of Quantum/Guidelines might involve appropriate judicial involvement in its compilation or adoption Action Point 39 Consultation with the Judiciary | PIAB/DBEI/DJE | Ongoing | This recommendation has effectively been superseded by the recommendations in the Second and Final Report of the PIC (Sept 2018). The PIC recommends that the Judicial Council (JC), when established, should be requested by the Minster for Justice and Equality to compile guidelines for general damages for various types of personal injury (with potential assistance from PIAB). Such guidelines would be along the lines of the Judicial Studies Board guidelines published in England & Wales and would replace the current Book of Quantum which PIAB currently has a legislative function to produce. The PIC report anticipated enactment at year end for the legislation to establish the JC and that in the event of a delay to the establishment of the JC that, as a contingency arrangement, the Executive should establish a formal framework, inclusive of PIAB, to enable the judiciary to complete guidelines in advance of the renewal deadlines for the next Book of Quantum. PIAB has written to Mr Charlie Flanagan T.D. Minister for Justice and Equality offering its assistance either in the compilation of any guidelines or in the event of a requirement to produce such “interim” guidelines. |
| Rec. 19 - Examine the frequency of future Book of Quantum updates in terms of any future changes to its production. Action Point 40 Implement the outcome of the PIAB legislative review. | PIAB | Q2 2017 | As per Recommendation 18 this recommendation has effectively been superseded by the recommendations contained in the Second and Final Report of the PIC. (related to Rec 20) |
| Rec. 20 Introduce more granularity into the Book of Quantum Action point 41 Consult with the PIC and implement any recommendations arising from their report. Action point 42 Enhance the BOQ upon each publication. | PIAB | Ongoing | As per Recommendation 18 this recommendation has effectively been superseded by the recommendations contained in the Second and Final Report of the PIC. It is anticipated that any new judicial guidelines will also have regard to the First Report of the PIC, published in December 2017, which contains a specific recommendation relating to the potential inclusion of new reporting categories/scales of soft-tissue (whiplash) based on the Quebec Task Force’s WAD scale. PIAB data relating to personal injury claims that they have assessed may be useful in this context. |
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