Draft guidelines providing for a 16.7 per cent increase in awards of damages in personal injuries cases have been approved by the board of the Judicial Council.
The increase reflects the rise in inflation since the original guidelines were approved by a majority of judges in 2021, the board said in a report published by the council on Thursday.
The draft amended guidelines will be good news for plaintiffs but are likely to be greeted with dismay by insurers and employers.
The original guidelines, which slashed awards for mainly minor personal injuries by an average 30 per cent, were part of the last government’s insurance reform programme and the amendments will also come in for political scrutiny.
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The draft guidelines will go before the full judicial council for approval in late January. If approved, they will then be referred to the Minister for Justice before being laid before the Oireachtas for approval.
Judges must have regard to the guidelines when deciding awards and are required to give reasons for any departure from them.
The increase will not restore awards to the levels they were under the Book of Quantum, which was replaced by the 2021 guidelines.
Prepared by the council’s personal injuries guidelines committee, the original guidelines came into effect in April 2021 after they were approved by a majority of judges. One of the main aims of the guidelines was to achieve consistency in awards.
The Judicial Council Act 2019 required the council to prepare guidelines and to review them after three years. That review, completed by the committee last March, recommended amendments to the guidelines to take account of inflation.
The 16.7 per cent increase means the maximum €550,000 general damages sum recommended under the 2021 guidelines for the most serious injuries, such as quadriplegia, will rise to about €642,000.
Awards for minor brain damage or head injury will range from €585 to €29,200 depending on factors including severity of the initial injury and the time taken to achieve a substantial recovery.
Awards for injuries resulting in psychiatric damage will range from €17,500 to €198,000 depending on factors including severity of the damage and the prognosis.
In relation to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, awards will range from €585 to €140,000 depending on severity and resolution of symptoms.
The loss of an eye, or of sight in one eye, will attract damages between €93,400 and €140,000. Awards for minor eye injuries range from €585 to €17,500.
Damages for the loss of a testicle range from €28,000 to €35,000. Damages for the permanent loss of sexual function in a male range from €11,650 to €220,000 depending on factors including age.
Damages for infertility in a woman due to injury or disease range from €58,400 to €292,000.
Awards for minor neck injuries range from €585 to €14,000, dependent on factors including how long it takes to make a substantial recovery. The most severe neck injuries will attract awards up to €350,000.
Awards for back injuries range from €585 for the most minor to €350,000 for the most severe. The total loss of a little finger can result in awards from €14,000-€29,200 with higher awards for other fingers, including €29,200 to €40,800 for the index finger.
Awards for facial injuries resulting in very severe scarring range from €93,400 to €233,000. Damages for minor scarring range from €585 to €8,170.
Awards for loss of, or damage to, teeth range from €1,750 for loss of, or damage to a back tooth and €35,000 for loss of, or serious damage to, several front teeth.
Brian Hanley, CEO of the Alliance for Insurance Reform, representing businesses, sports, community and voluntary organisations, expressed “alarm” at the recommended “significant” increase in award values.
Direct costs and special damages associated with personal injuries already and rightly keep pace with inflation, but general damages are not related to the cost of living, he said.
He was “particularly concerned” the proposed increase, and possible further increases after future reviews, could “undermine the effective operation of the Injuries Resolution Board and allow legal costs to spiral”.
Enhancing the role of the board was “an integral part” of the last government’s insurance reform programme, but its future effectiveness “has now arguably been challenged” and the next programme for government must carefully review the entire process, he said.
The savings that insurance reforms have generated, including from introduction of the personal injury guidelines, have yet to be passed on to the groups the Alliance represent, Mr Hanley said. The proposed 16.7 per cent increase “is a further set-back in this regard”.
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