Vol. 302 No. 3
asked the Minister for Justice if he is satisfied that the sum of £1,000, being the maximum sum which can be awarded for mental distress in fatal accident cases, is sufficient; and if he has any proposals to introduce amending legislation in this regard.
177.
asked the Minister for Justice if he intends to increase the present limit of £1,000 payable under section 49 of the Civil Liability Act, 1961, to the dependants of a person who is fatally injured, as compensation for mental distress resulting from the death.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 176 and 177 together.
May I say first that the provision in the 1961 Act for compensation for mental distress was not intended to provide for compensation in the ordinary sense of that word since no amount of money can offset or compensate for the distress which a fatal accident is likely to cause to members of the family of the diseased person. The provision was intended more as an acknowledgement of the fact of grief or mental distress than an attempt to quantify it, which would be impossible.
Accordingly, whether the sum fixed is £1,000 as at present or some higher sum it is necessarily an arbitrary figure and not one which is intended to be a measure or reflection of the distress that is caused. The figure is, of course, additional to whatever is awarded by way of damages to compensate for monetary loss such as expenses or loss of support.
Having said that, and allowing also for the fact that when the figure of £1,000 was fixed in 1961 it was intended to include a substantial margin to allow for inflation, I accept that the figure should now be looked at again and I intend to do this as soon as possible.
