The Tánaiste is to bring forward legislation allowing the introduction of a mediation service for personal injuries claims.
Ms Harney has indicated that legislation covering such claims will be in force by the end of the year.
A spokesman for the Tánaiste told ireland.comthat Ms Harney had, for the first time, indicated a time frame for the introduction of the Bill.
He said the Bill would be drafted as a matter of urgency over the course of the summer. He added that the Bill would be sent to the Oireachtas in the Autumn and introduced into legislation for Christmas.
The legislation will force people lodging claims for personal injuries to go to a mediation service before approaching the courts.
The legislation is being introduced amidst fears that thousands of Irish jobs are under threat because of insurance costs associated with an Irish compensation culture.
According to the Alliance for Insurance Reform, a lobby group comprising 400 Irish businesses which came together last year in an effort to force the Government into action, Irish jobs have already been lost because rising public and employer liability insurance premiums were too high.
Irish companies, according to the Alliance, already sacrificed more than 1,000 jobs last year as they struggled to allocate resources to insurance costs that had risen, in some cases, by more than 1,000 per cent.
Meanwhile, insurance company FBD Holdings today reported a rise in operating profits of 24 per cent to €37.5 million last year.
The company reported a reduction in its underwriting losses on motor insurance from €12.1 million to €10.2 million and a €3.4 million improvement in the contribution in property in the year ending December 31st 2002.
FBD chief executive, Mr Paul O'Callaghan said motor underwriting appeared to have benefited from the introduction of the penalty points system late last year.
The compnay said that if this trend continued, it was realistic to hope for reductions in premiums in the short to medium term.