The legislation setting up the new Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB), designed to cut the cost of delivering compensation awards to accident victims, was approved by the Cabinet yesterday. It will be published this week.
The PIAB, a key component of reforms in the insurance market promised by the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, will first be used to deal with claims against employers' liability insurance for accidents at work. The Government plans to extend it later to motor accident claims.
The board is expected to operate a "book" of awards, on a scale set by comparison with previous such awards given by Irish courts. Thus the board will have firm guidelines as to the amount of compensation to be awarded depending on the seriousness of the injury involved.
A spokesman for Ms Harney said last night the Government still expected to have the legislation enacted by January. The Leader of the Seanad, Ms Mary O'Rourke, said last week that she did not believe there was enough time left for it to pass through both the Dáil and Seanad before Christmas. The rising cost of insurance has become a major political issue, with firms warning that thousands of jobs are at risk unless there is a speedy reduction in premiums.
Business groups and the insurance industry have lobbied strongly for the establishment of the PIAB. However, the legal profession has raised misgivings, claiming that if accident victims go before the board without significant legal representation, as is proposed, they will be at a disadvantage.
There will be no lawyers involved in the proceedings of the PIAB, according to draft legislation published in May. Ms Harney says the PIAB will offer a lower cost and speedier means of finalising personal injury claims than the current court-based system. The PIAB will only make assessments where liability is not an issue, but all personal injuries claims must first go to it, whether liability is contested or not.
In cases where liability is contested, the PIAB will not proceed with an assessment, and will issue a Release Certificate, allowing the case to proceed to court. A certificate will also be issued if either or both parties reject the PIAB assessment.