Vol. 409 No. 5
7 Mr. Spring asked the Minister for Justice the steps he has taken to remove personal accident claims from normal court procedure and instead have such cases dealt with by the specialist tribunal, in the light of the Government's commitment to consider this proposal in the Programme for Economic and Social Progress; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
34 Mr. Byrne asked the Minister for Justice if he will outline the manner in which it is intended to examine the possibility of reforming the system for dealing with personal injuries claims, including the question of having such claims dealt with by a specialist tribunal, which was promised in the Programme for Economic and Social Progress; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 34 together.
It is necessary, as a preliminary step, to examine the legal implications that arise in relation to the question of establishing a tribunal to deal with personal injury claims, having regard to the constitutional provisions relating to the powers and functions of the courts, and this is being done.
Would the Minister of State not agree that a trawl of each Department was carried out to fill up the Programme for Economic and Social progress and that no action has been taken in this area since the programme was put together? Can he outline the timescale within which we will learn more about the promises made in the programme? Whereas the last few pages of the programme have some value in that they deal with pay claims, the rest of the programme seems to contain only aspirations.
Pie in the sky.
It is like the Fianna Fáil manifesto.
The programme was agreed between the Government and the social partners, since the programme was signed we have been working incessantly to achieve its objectives. I am sure the social partners would confirm this. It is too early at this stage to talk about establishing a tribunal. It is necessary as a preliminary step to consider the legal questions which arise in relation to any tribunal which might be established. Constitutional issues arise in relation to the powers and functions of the courts which require very careful examination.
The Minister of State has not answered my question. The Minister has not answered my specific question. I asked what action has been taken so far. He has told me what action he would like to take and what should be done but he has given no timescale for the delivery of this specific promise.
I am not in a position to give an indication on time.
Is the Minister aware that the number of uninsured drivers on our roads is increasing every week directly as a result of the high insurance premiums being charged? Does he agree that this proposal was first suggested by his colleague, the Minister for Industry and Commerce, Deputy O'Malley, on order to deal with the growing problem of high insurance costs? I suggest that the Minister contact his colleague, Deputy O'Malley, to see what proposals he has in relation to this matter. After all he gave a press conference about it.
I am not too sure that Deputy Barrett is accurate when he says that the number of uninsured drivers is increasing every week.
I am accurate.
The vigilance of the Garda Síochána is counteracting that and they have taken control of the situation over the past year in particular. The Government are concerned about the escalating cost of liability insurance and are committed to the reform of the present system for the determination of personal injury cases in the courts. The question of establishing a specialist tribunal to deal with personal injuries is one possibility that is being considered, other possibilities include changing the existing procedures governing the conduct of personal injuries actions which give rise to costs. The working party, formed at the invitation of the Attorney General, are carrying out a broad examination of the cost aspect of personal injuries actions with a view to increasing the efficiency and reducing the cost of such actions.
In his earlier reply the Minister indicated, and he seemed to amplify this just now, that a specialist tribunal might be established. Will the Minister clarify the position? Is the commitment in the programme not as firm as we were led to believe heretofore and is something that is only a possibility and one of a number of options and may not be acted upon? Will the Minister of State indicate at what level this investigation is taking place? Is it an interdepartmental investigation or an investigation within his own Department solely? Will a subcommittee or an official of the Minister be appointed to look at the matter? What formal structure exists to investigate this important issue? Will the conclusions of the investigation be returned to the social partners and the House for consideration?
The commitment of the Government to the programme is absolute and each facet of the programme is being examined and worked on as quickly as possible. The highest law officer of the Government, the Attorney General, has a working party of key people working on this and if that does not represent commitment I do not know what does.
Who are they?
A cadre of top officials are working on this.
Are they from the various Departments?
Let us make some worthwhile progress on Questions today.
I want to get some information.
