Last evening I was dealing with the cost of employers' liability insurance. There is a view among the Confederation of Irish Industry and employers that the high cost of insurance is the result of very high awards being paid to people who are injured in accidents in the workplace. Employers and insurance companies put too much emphasis on the level of awards granted to people injured at work. It is more important to concentrate on reducing the number of accidents and the avoidance of accidents in the workplace. It is very important that greater attention should be paid by the Department of Labour, the Confederation of Irish Industry and employers to providing proper safety education for staff. There should be regular briefings by employers — with the co-operation of trade unions — telling employees the safety precautions which should be taken at work. This is vitally important.
The inspectorate in the Department of Labour should be much more vigilant in enforcing safety regulations. If a man loses a hand, an arm or a leg at work, no amount of compensation can make up for the loss of the limb. The worker will have to suffer that loss as long as he lives. Much more attention should be paid to educating the workforce on safety precautions at work. We read in the papers that a person who has suffered horrific injuries — he may be left quadraplegic — gets £1 million compensation but that does not make up for the injuries he has suffered. I remember a person being granted £20,000 in the sixties and there was an uproar. At that time it was unheard of that a person would get so much money by way of compensation. I was in the Four Courts when the jury announced that award of £20,000, the biggest award ever at that time. The papers were full of the story and they were saying that this would have an effect on insurance premiums. I do not know if that man is alive, nor do I remember his name, but that £20,000 would not make up for the injuries he suffered. Since the sixties awards of £100,000, £200,000 and so on, have been granted. That is a lot of money but no amount of money can compensate for the injuries these people suffer. When people are injured at work they must get compensation so that they can get proper medical and nursing care. The cases I am talking about are injuries at work, people involved in car accidents, children injured at school and so on.
As regards employers' liability insurance, there are far too many accidents taking place in factories all over the country. There is supposed to be an accident book available for the departmental inspectors, but I wonder how often these officials inspect these books. If the book shows that accidents are happening regularly, the official should take action. I have been a qualified solicitor for more than 20 years and in all my years in court I have rarely, if ever, seen any action brought by the Department of Labour against employers when a person was injured at work. If action were taken, the chances are that many of these accidents would not occur. These statistics should be available to the Department of Labour. The Department have power under the Factories Acts and Safety in Industry Acts and they should ensure that proper safety precautions are being taken.
The Department used to issue the Annual Report of the Industrial Inspectorate of the Department of Labour. As far as I can ascertain the last annual report published by that inspectorate was in 1983-84. I can understand a delay of three, six, 12 or 18 months, but the last official report was issued in 1983-84. The inspectorate of the Department of Labour monitor what is happening in the workplace. I accept that there has been a reduction in staff numbers because of the cutbacks, but it is essential that we reduce the number of accidents in the workplace. With the co-operation of the Department, the employers and trade unions, the number of accidents can and must be reduced. If the number of accidents is reduced premiums will be lowered. We must emphasise this fact. I urge the Department to be more vigilant in this area.
The Minister for Industry and Commerce mentioned the measures to be taken by the Minister for the Environment. He said:
Also, the Minister for the Environment is proposing to introduce new legislation to strengthen the road traffic code and to deal more effectively with certain aspects of uninsured driving and other offences. The measures proposed could include the impounding of motor vehicles to deal with uninsured driving.
I welcome that statement and I am certain it will have the support of almost every Deputy. Efforts must be made to curtail the proportion of people driving without insurance — about 20 to 25 per cent. This means that those people who pay insurance must also pay for those who are driving uninsured vehicles.
Another aspect not covered by the provisions of this Bill is that of road accidents occasioned by the condition of our roads, with potholes, damage done to road surfaces, occasioning damage to vehicles, which in turn, leads to accidents. It is crucial that additional measures be taken by the Minister for the Environment to improve our roads structure. Whatever measures the Minister introduces to tighten up the Road Traffic Act code and alleviate insurance problems — to render our roads structure safer for traffic generally — will have the full support of this side of the House.
I must pay tribute to the relevant Ministers who introduced legislation to curb drunken driving and to the Judiciary for the commonsense manner in which they enforced the terms of such legislation which has led to a considerable reduction in the incidence of accidents on our roads. Long may it continue.
Medical insurance has been the subject of a vast amount of publicity in recent times because of a number of actions, one of which is at present on appeal and to which I will not refer in detail today. A solicitor, Mr. John Schutte, held a seminar recently in the vicinity of this House, the theme of which was how medical personnel could reduce their liability on account of medical negligence. I can foresee clearly that there will be increased claims on the part of patients against nurses, doctors and hospitals because of the reduction in personnel in hospitals throughout the country. Personnel in our hospitals are now working under such stress and strain it is bound to affect their judgment on occasion and their ability to maintain proper medical records. Indeed such stress is bound to affect decisions which have to be taken on the spot. Inevitably this means that accidents can happen leading to increased claims being lodged against the medical profession. It is of the utmost importance that care be taken to monitor patients' treatment in hospitals in order to avoid such claims.
In recent months there have been a number of deaths in hospitals some of which might have been avoided. A patient may die because a nurse or doctor physically could not attend him or her. That patient's family have a right to proper compensation. Again, if a patient suffers permanent damage on account of postponement of an important operation they were awaiting, he or she is equally entitled to compensation.
There has been much discussion about the high cost of insurance premiums here. People tended to blame an unfortunate victim of an accident awarded high damages by our courts. Because of the collapse of two or our insurance companies — the PMPA and the Insurance Corporation of Ireland — a levy has been imposed on all insurance premiums. That was occasioned by the lack of proper management control on the part of those companies in the past. I remember when premiums were increased annually by the PMPA, say, 15 to 25 per cent brought about by imprudent investment, lack of management control within the company and so on. The same applied in the case of the Insurance Corporation of Ireland some of whose management decisions proved to be grossly imprudent or incorrect. It is the consumer who suffers by way of increased insurance premiums. Therefore, we must ensure that all our insurance companies are run efficiently under proper management procedures. Here I might pay tribute to the new management of the PMPA and the Insurance Corporation of Ireland who took over those companies in difficult times.
The Department of Industry and Commerce have a responsibility to ensure that our insurance companies are properly managed and run efficiently. They had power to seek information about the running of those companies and are seeking additional powers under the provisions of this Bill. It is essential that they be given those powers.
One matter that concerns me a lot is that of pillion passengers on motor cycles not covered by the provisions of this Bill. It must be recognised that pillion passengers are not covered by insurance. Even if the driver of the motor cycle is 100 per cent blameworthy and his or her pillion passenger is injured — even if the most horrific injuries are sustained such as loss of a limb or back injury — he or she will not be paid a penny by way of compensation in 97 per cent of cases. It is essential that legislation be introduced to ensure that such pillion passengers be compensated by insurance companies.
With the completion of the internal market in 1992 there will be tremendous scope for expansion among our insurance companies in all branches of insurance and assurance. Our insurance companies have the ability and expertise, built up over the years, to enable them to compete with their European counterparts.
The regulations giving the Department additional powers to seek information from insurance companies will be of benefit to the companies themselves. It is my belief that they have a great future by way of expansion of their businesses after 1992, attracting business here from Europe.