Sir, - I would like to compliment Kevin Myers on his description of our compensation culture, which is reaching epidemic proportions. He perhaps omitted the consequent difficulty in holding any sort of fund-raising function such as a simple barbecue, because of escalating public liability insurance costs.
Another interesting anomaly of our law is the example of the Knock train crash at Claremorris, where a train was derailed due to hitting cattle on the line. The farmer responsible, who was found 75 per cent responsible for the £3-4 million damages, had no resources, and Irish Rail ended up paying the whole sum.
Surely this type of legal stupidity cries out for remedy, and our laws need amending. There are even more glaring examples of the failure of the Government to respect the law, and ensure it provides natural justice. A recent administration, in order to prevent a cross-Border trade which resulted from its own taxation levels, imposed a 36-hour limit in apparent breach of EC law, in the cynical knowledge that it would take three years to be heard and overturned in the European Court.
How can we be expected to have respect for the law, when it so manifestly fails to provide justice, and when our own Government so cynically disregards it? - Yours, etc,
FRCOG, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Western Health Board, Mayo General Hospital, Castlebar, Co Mayo.