Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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74. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the recommendation in the recent report by the Personal Injuries Commission that a judicial council be established and the judges on it provide guidelines on the appropriate levels of damages for personal injuries cases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17829/19]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, a key recommendation of the Cost of Insurance Working Group (CIWG) was the establishment of the Personal Injuries Commission (PIC) which was asked to examine amongst other things award levels in this country compared with elsewhere.  The PIC reported in September 2018 and concluded that soft tissue injuries are significantly higher here than in England and Wales (4.4 times) and recommended that action be taken to address this disparity through the establishment of the Judicial Council.  The PIC recommended that this body would become responsible for preparing the guidelines on personal injury award levels, and would replace the Book of Quantum.  In doing this, the PIC believes that the Judicial Council would, in compiling the guidelines, take account of the jurisprudence of the Court of Appeal and the results of its benchmarking exercise.

The PIC Report represents the first independent and objective acknowledgement of the differential of award levels between this country and England and Wales, and therefore in my view the implementation of its recommendations to address this differential through a judicial recalibration of the existing Book of Quantum by means of the Judicial Council would be an important step forward.  Consequently, I see the enactment of the Judicial Council Bill by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan TD, as an important Government priority. 

The current position with the Judicial Council Bill is that the Minister for Justice and Equality has indicated that he hopes that it can be enacted by the summer.  In this regard, it recently completed Committee Stage in the Seanad.  It should also be noted that alongside this legislation, the Law Reform Commission has included the subject of capping damages in personal injuries litigation in its draft 5th Programme of Law Reform and this work will begin shortly. 

While the Judicial Council Bill’s role in reviewing the quantum of awards will be an important reform and has been highlighted in particular by insurers, I would expect that those insurers’ pricing of premiums in general and willingness to take on risk in particular sectors will also take account of the other measures which have been, and are being, implemented as a result of the CIWG recommendations more broadly and I believe that insurers themselves recognise this.

Finally, I would recall that Justice Nicholas Kearns, the Chairperson of the Personal Injuries Commission (PIC), noted in the foreword of its second report that insurance industry representatives on the PIC repeatedly stated that, as award levels and associated costs account for the bulk of the cost of insurance, if claims costs come down and are maintained at a consistent and predictable level, then premiums will also reduce accordingly.  A further public statement by insurers to this effect would assist in efforts to continue the necessary reform.