Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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274. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the amount the Personal Injuries Assessment Board has held in reserve in each of the years 2010 to 2017 and to date in 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50312/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The amount of reserves held by the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) is set out in the published Annual Reports of PIAB. For ease of reference for the Deputy, I have set out the amounts held for the years 2010 to 2017 in the following table.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) recommended to the Department that the Department and PIAB agree an appropriate level of revenue reserves to be retained by PIAB and the basis for holding such a reserve. The C&AG also recommended the introduction of appropriate legislation to deal with excess funds held by PIAB. Legal advice obtained by the Department is to the effect that legislative change is required to enable the Board to remit excess moneys to the Exchequer.

The proposed amendment at section 13 of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2018 implements the recommendation from the C&AG. It provides for a reserves policy for PIAB. It also provides that PIAB shall remit to the Minister, for the benefit of the Exchequer, any moneys in excess of those authorised to be retained by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The Bill specifically provides that the Minister will have regard to the operational, capital and contingency costs of PIAB when determining the sum to be retained. Therefore, it is intended that PIAB would be permitted to retain sufficient funds to meet these costs.

Table showing the amount of reserves held by the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) for the years 2010 to 2017.