Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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83. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his response to the annual report from the Injuries Resolution Board; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43335/24]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the 2023 Annual Report from the Injuries Resolution Board. The report provides further evidence of what has been achieved through government’s ‘Action Plan for Insurance Reform’.

In 2023 the Board’s work delivered savings of over €75 million in avoided costs due to injury claims being resolved through the Board’s non-adversarial model rather than proceeding to what can be costly and time consuming litigation.

I am pleased to see that the annual report shows that last year saw the highest engagement with the Board since its establishment in 2004, with a 71% consent rate for a Board assessment.

This Government said that we would bring down the costs of personal injury claims and the annual report shows that both the costs and volume of injury claims have now substantially reduced since the introduction of the Personal Injuries Guidelines.

The Board made awards of €170 million in 2023 compared to awards of €275 million back in 2019. The median award by the Board in 2023 was €11,650, down 37% from 2020. The volume of injury claims received by the Board last year was down 35% on the number of claims received in 2019.

The annual report highlights the expansion of the Injuries Resolution Board’s services last year following the reform of the agency as set down in the ‘Action Plan for Insurance Reform’. Together with the assessment of compensation for injury claims, the Board now offers a mediation service to facilitate the resolution of employer and public liability injury claims. It is intended to extend this mediation service to motor liability injury claims before the end of the year. Mediation will allow the Board to accept a much wider range of claims than previously.

The Board now has a wider reporting and research role, bringing much needed data to the personal injuries environment. It has already published in depth reports into the data generated by its handling of employer liability and public liability claims.

The Board also retains more complex injury claims and has introduced new anti-fraud measures. Beginning in 2023 the agency also facilitates the resolution of injury claims under the Garda Síochána (Compensation) Act 2022.

I want to thank the Injuries Resolution Board for their continued work in facilitating the resolution of personal injury claims. These are real savings that we need to see reflected in insurance premiums.