Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 November 2006
130 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to the concerns which have been expressed regarding the operations of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board; and if he has proposals to review the operation of the board. [37757/06]
View answer144 Mr. Kehoe asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his assessment of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board’s performance to date; his views on the delay in processing claims; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37949/06]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 130 and 144 together.
I am aware of recent media publicity concerning the Personal Injuries Assessment Board. The PIAB has received thirty six thousand cases since it was established. I understand from the Board that six thousand of these were settled up-front from the outset, nine thousand cases were settled between the parties during the PIAB process, over five thousand assessments have been made, and an estimated four thousand cases are heading into litigation, although not all of these will necessarily go to a full hearing.
This leaves twelve thousand cases which are currently in the PIAB system. Seven thousand five hundred of these are in the assessment phase, and I am assured by the PIAB that they will all be dealt with within the statutory time frames. The balance of cases is awaiting documentation from one of the parties or a decision from the Respondent to consent to process or not.
The Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003 provides that the Board must ensure that assessments are made within a period of nine months beginning on the date on which it receives the respondent's consent to assessment, or in circumstances where it appears to the Board that it would not be possible or appropriate, because of the particular circumstances of the claim concerned, to make an assessment within the nine month period, the period for making an assessment may be increased to fifteen months. I am advised by the PIAB that ninety three percent of assessments are made within the nine month period; the remaining seven percent are assessed within a further six months as allowed by the legislation (these would normally be cases where a stable medical prognosis is not available in nine months).
The PIAB has assured me that it has the capacity to deal with the volumes of cases on hand and projected to come before it. Currently seventy-two staff are employed by the Board. This is expected to rise to eighty-five by year-end. In addition, the Board outsources claims preparation and helpline services to a contracted service centre, which provides flexibility and the capacity to expand processing volumes quickly to meet increased demand. Based on statistical and actuarial trends, the PIAB has projected annual volumes of cases rising to twenty five thousand per annum, forty percent of which are expected to be resolved between the parties following contact with the PIAB, twenty percent are expected to head into litigation (but not necessarily to a Court hearing), and the remaining forty percent will be assessed by the PIAB.
The success of the PIAB represents a good news story for consumers who can now have their claims processed much more quickly, and will receive the same level of awards as made in the Courts without the trauma of litigation. The average time which it takes PIAB to assess cases is 7.2 months from the date of consent. Under the previous litigation based system cases took 3-4 years to be settled. Ninety three percent of PIAB cases are assessed within nine months, the remaining seven percent are assessed within a further six months as allowed by the legislation (these are cases where a stable medical prognosis is not available in 9 months). In addition, a large number of cases have been removed from the Courts system, freeing up the Courts to deal with other matters.
As is the case with all agencies under my remit, my Department is in regular communication with the PIAB, and continually reviews with it the effectiveness of its operations.
