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THE JUSTICE MINISTER has said he would like to see all progress made to reform the insurance industry maintained before approving a recommendation to increase personal injury awards.
Fianna Fáil’s Jim O’Callaghan told The Journal today that he has yet to make a final decision on the judicial council’s proposal to increase personal injury pay-outs by 17%, which is due to be discussed by cabinet later this month.
It comes after a report by the Central Bank yesterday said motor insurance premiums are set to continue rising as the number of claims made and repair costs involved are increasing.
As of May 2025, drivers have seen an 8% increase in motor insurance premiums in the last 12 months, the report said.
Asked about an upcoming memo, due to be discussed by ministers this month, O’Callaghan said discussions are still ongoing.
“In the first instance, no decision has been made in respect of the issue about the person injuries guidelines,” he told The Journal. “I am, at present, considering them.”
He added that he is “very conscious” of the changes and is engaging with other departments and ministers as a result of the campaigning for insurance reforms that have been completed in recent years.
“We need to maintain [the progress],” he said. “I am engaging with other cabinet colleagues, we’ll have discussions in respect of it. I think government will make a decision on this matter shortly.”
O’Callaghan added that he was not going to make a decision in respect of the judicial council recommendation by himself and wanted to include other members of government on the decision.
“I have to take account, for instance, of the Central Bank’s Claims’ Database Report,” he said, referencing its finding that there’s already no financial benefit for those who make claims to have their case removed from the Personal Injuries Resolution Board.
He added that government will make a decision on the matter in due course.
Reform activists, such as the Alliance For Insurance Reform, have said that there will be no check on costs if ministers approve the proposed increases. It claims that the cost of insurance premiums is already too high, and increasing monthly.
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Please don’t approve these changes so soon after getting them someway reduced. The compensation culture in this country is already ridiculous and this stems from multiple factors including the judges and solicitors entertaining people often looking for an easy way to get money. He should also appoint an overseer of the insurance industry as premiums have not come down sufficiently in line with reduced payouts and I’m sure profit has increased in the meantime.
@Longlin: And pigs might fly!
I did a dissertation 20 years ago on the high cost of Motor Insurance, not much has changed, particularly the legal system which is the issue rather than continuously pointing the finger at the insurance industry.i seem to recall when the IMF came into the country they recommended total reform of the legal industry which did not happen, the only area that it didn’t happen. Perhaps the minister should review this area.
@T Duffy: Legal system is self regulated in this country, in other words not regulated.
It’s a cartel basically, solicitors, barristers and judges all complicate. Could you blame the insurance companies for their behaviour?
@Bert Carolan: Complicit
@T Duffy: The Minister is the problem – he is a barrister.
@Michael Reilly: Legal reform was one of the conditions for the IMF bailing out the country after the property crash, never happened, but property tax was, and water tax tried and failed!
@T Duffy: That’s mad… I did mine on PIAB almost 20 years ago too (you’ve just made me realise my age- thanks lol!!) I focused primarily on recommendations to revise the Book of Quantum. Honestly thought that had happened when it was rebranded to the ‘Injuries Board’ although admittedly, I’ve deliberately switched off due to my frustration with certain members of the Judicial System.
Raise payouts by 17% and the insurance companies will raise premiums by 17%. No-one expects to be in a serious accident, no-one expects or wants to be in a situation where they have to make a claim for serious injury. So the only people who would welcome the inevitable hike in premiums are scammers expecting/hoping to make a claim and ambulance chasing solicitors looking for easy money.
Perfect money making storm, tolls on the big roads, everything else 100 years old, add more cars, more people do nothing in transport infrastructure and pow!… money raining from the sky… nicely played government.
@Thesaltyurchin: no substance to your argument at all. Toll roads and motorways are the safest roads in the country
Lol sure it’s about “safety”… my entire point is that it’s about money, the government are committed to ‘campaigns of awareness’ it’s why the RSA exist, so they can have statistics to beat us with while simultaneously doing nothing in transport infrastructure. To me it seems obvious no?
An absolute joke if this proposed hike is given the go ahead. Awards for personal injury claims in this country are already a disgrace, I read recently that they are four times that of the UK, and most countries in Europe won’t even pay out for whiplash. In Ireland our extremely out of touch judiciary are liable to award you 20k for a broken fingernail.
@The Firestarter: in what other European country does a patient have to pay at point of treatment? The overwhelming majority of countries have universal healthcare which is free at point of access.
They never even lowered the premiums after years of talking about it , maybe do that first and stand by your words
The vested interests will be looked after, as per usual!
Insurance are big employers here and as such can do what they like.
I cannot believe what I am reading. I completely give up on the people that govern our country. The payouts for claims are ridiculous in Ireland. The Government are completely encouraging people to make bogus claims. They talk about bringing the price of things down? Can they not realise that businesses (shops, hotels, etc) will have to increase prices because their insurance premiums are ridiculously high? This is a complete joke.
@Joseph Fitzgibbon: some claims are indeed high but they’re the ones we see mentioned in the papers.
How can reform be maintained when it doesn’t seem to have commenced.
Why payouts associated with future medical needs are not subject to future presentation of receipts associated with those needs is ridiculous. In addition where a claim is the result of dangerous driving with criminal responsibility, some portion of the payout should be retrieved from the perpetrator. Eg if your drink driving, speeding excessively etc and cause an accident, you pay a large portion of the costs even if it involves you selling your assets.
They pleaded for caps on payouts and promised it would be reflected in insurance premiums, they got it and said piddle off. I, d raise them by 50% for a start.
Judicial council propose an increase, well,as a member of the consumer council I propose a reduction.The fact an increase is even being considered is mad.
Payments are ridiculously high as things stand. Our judiciary aren’t living in the real world. Whiplash , according to UK experts, is non existent with headrests, yet we see enormous payouts for what is an unprovable complaint. I remember an accident with wait for it e10.72 damage between two cars and the passenger received e3500 for injuries. What judge made this award. Wake up.
Not every claim is a scam and people do need to have access for the pain and suffering they have had to endure, due to somebody else’s negligence.
The professional scammers are being run out of court more and more and that is great to read but there are real cases too and those people should be well compensated and the people whose fault it is should suffer.
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