Negotiations about Tallaght were under way since the autumn and were at their final stage when the Government made the decentralisation decision; we would have been re-inventing the wheel to start the ball rolling again. Tallaght is not in my constituency and the Irish Prison Service, which is in my constituency, is moving to Longford. My constituency is a Dublin constituency and the more I can move out of it the better.
State of the art premises for the PIAB have been secured in Tallaght and the chief executive was appointed earlier this year. There was an incredible response to advertisements for vacancies with 1,000 people applying for the first tranche of jobs. We were most impressed with the enthusiasm to work in the organisation. The people who applied had expertise ranging from working in insurance to the legal profession and other areas and the first job offers for senior staff are now being made.
The software package that will be used for damages and case management is now being finalised. The service centre is being outsourced in Ireland - it has been put out to tender and five companies have been short-listed. The PIAB will make an offer to one of those companies after presentations to the board.
The book of quantum is almost complete and the rules under which the organisation will operate are currently being drafted by a barrister and will be ready soon. The book of quantum will be available to the committee and anyone else who is interested. As we made clear on many occasions, this is not about reducing what someone would get through the courts but ensuring the genuine claimant gets what he or she is entitled to through the Personal Injuries Assessment Board.
The purpose here is to reduce the cost of delivering claims to genuine claimants. In Ireland, barristers are involved in 70% of the claims even though only 10% end up in court. In the UK barristers are involved in 4% of cases. It takes six times longer to get what one is entitled to in this country than in the UK.
Last week the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, together with IBEC, published a useful guide, which the committee will have received, encouraging companies and their employees to settle claims within the company through the insurance rather than even going to the PIAB. That is useful. Everybody is working to ensure that claims are resolved speedily and that people will not have to resort to the PIAB, not to mind the legal system.
With regard to insurance generally, the evidence suggests, as was seen in the CSO figures published in December, that between December 2002 and December 2003 premia have fallen by 11% in the motor sector. It is good news but we hope to have much better news. Recently, the AA has suggested that in some categories premia have fallen by up to 32% in the motor sector. We do not have data regarding employers' liability insurance or public liability insurance at this point. It would be useful to have such data. We have anecdotal evidence. Last night, I met representatives of a company, Aircoach, whose insurance had dropped from €20,000 per bus last year to €8,500 per bus this year. That is a considerable reduction. There is anecdotal evidence that there are substantial reductions but we do not have data. Therefore, I cannot say that employer liability or public liability insurance has reduced by a particular percentage.
We will not see the big reductions until the PIAB is up and running. The intention is that 4 May will be the commencement date for business. I hope to sign a commencement order shortly to establish the board on a statutory basis. It has been working on an interim basis for some time. The board will be open for business from Monday, 4 May, approximately four months from the time the legislation was passed. We must also undertake the enormous recruitment process to ensure the right people are in place. The board will have approximately 85 staff when it is fully operational. It will have experienced, competent staff and it will be able to run efficiently and successfully.
It will mainly be a document based system but the service centre will do more than just answer calls. It will have the expertise to give people good advice. I made a commitment that it would help people. This is a claimant friendly organisation that will genuinely help people so they will not feel the need to recruit lawyers or other experts to assist them. There will be an organisation to help them. The vast majority of people will be able to deal with the organisation through the paper based system. The medical panel has been selected. There are approximately 300 doctors on the panel nationwide and they will be the medical referees to whom the PIAB can refer claims where it considers it necessary.
The reforms introduced by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform are extremely important. I understand the Minister is to appear before this committee tomorrow.
With regard to the Competition Authority study carried out with my Department, the draft conclusions were published some time ago and the public was given two months, to 18 April, to respond. The committee can also respond. It will then come forward with the final report. There were issues with regard to brokers' fees, how they are structured and possible conflicts of interest, of which the committee will be aware.
The other issue I mentioned frequently in the past is new entrants into the Irish market. There is interest on the part of some new entrants to come into the Irish market. However, until the justice legislation is enacted, it will be some months before those new entrants will quote for business in this market. Nevertheless, we are working to encourage that. Increased competition will drive down costs and offer more services to the consumers of insurance products.