Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 April 2024
86. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his response to the recent Supreme Court ruling in relation to the personal injuries guidelines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16889/24]
View answerI welcome the Supreme Court’s ruling in Bridget Delaney vs. the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, the Judicial Council, Ireland and the Attorney General, upholding the Personal Injuries Guidelines and affirming their constitutionality. The implementation of the Guidelines alongside the strengthening of the Injuries Resolution Board formed a key part of the Government’s Insurance Reform Programme as per the Action Plan for Insurance Reform and ensures that there is consistency, predictability, and fairness in the assessment of compensation for personal injuries.
I want to reiterate the importance of the transformation of the Injuries Resolution Board. In 2022 the work of the Board resulted in €40 million in savings that would otherwise have been spent on progressing claims through the litigation system. The Personal Injuries Resolution Board Act 2022 was designed to enhance and reform the role of the Board with the primary aim of increasing the volume of cases that it can handle. This included the rollout of meditation as a new service offered by the Injuries Resolution Board. The Board currently provides a mediation service for employer liability claims and will extend this service to public liability claims in May and to motor liability claims in September.
The latest data indicates that the Injuries Resolution Board acceptance rate is holding at 48 per cent, having fallen as low as 33 per cent following the introduction of the Guidelines. This ruling, should further increase confidence among claimants when having their claims assessed under the Guidelines, and lead to a higher acceptance rate for the Injury Resolution Board. I have confidence that the work that the Injuries Resolution Board are doing, as an organisation, is delivering an efficient and fair service to both claimants and respondents.
The application of the Personal Injury Guidelines has been responsible for a marked reduction in the amounts that have been awarded for personal injury compensation. The recent Central Bank’s third ‘National Claims Information Database - Employers’ Liability, Public Liability and Commercial Property Insurance Report’ published on the 4th of April 2024 shows that when the Guidelines were used to settle claims by the Injuries Resolution Board in 2022 this resulted in a 33 per cent reduction against the average cost of claims settled under the Book of Quantum in 2020.
According to the Central Bank’s NCID report on Private Motor Insurance in December 2023 a similar reduction in the cost of settling of motor claims under the Guidelines was achieved in 2022 when compared against claims settled under the Book of Quantum in 2020.
This judgment builds on the work that the state has already delivered on the Insurance Reform agenda and challenges insurers to reflect this in their premiums.
