Minister hits out at ‘off-the-wall’ payouts

D’Arcy says guidelines will tackle compo culture

NEW guidelines on how much judges should award in personal injury cases should be ready by the summer, Junior Finance Minister Michael D’Arcy has said.

And he stated that some compensation payments currently were ‘lucrative’ and ‘off-the-wall, bananas quantities of money’.

The awards that insurance companies have to pay out is set out by the Book of Quantum, and Mr D’Arcy – the minister charged with overseeing insurance reform – has said it’s time the amounts were reassessed.

The book was introduced by the Personal Injuries Assessment Board in 2003.

Mr D’Arcy has been tasked by the Government to tackle soaring motor premiums – including reducing the high payouts to claim victims. His plan to recalithe brate the levels of pay-outs may be ready before the Dáil’s summer recess, after the Book of Quantum is reviewed by a panel of judges.

Speaking on Today With Seán O’Rourke on RTÉ’s Radio 1, the Junior Finance Minister yesterday said his reform is ‘going in the right direction’ and may be ready in a matter of months.

Mr D’Arcy said he had initially hoped to tackle the problem through the Judicial Council Bill but that its slow progress through the Oireachtas meant it was no longer an option. Instead, he has opted to ‘establish a panel of judges to recalibrate the Book of Quantum’.

The Wexford TD slammed the ‘compensation culture’ in the country and said: ‘Everything that I am doing is to ensure that the Book of Quantum is recalibrated.’

In a recent interview with this paper, Mr D’Arcy said changing Book of Quantum is ‘the single biggest thing we can do to ensure that the levels of award are reduced. And I am talking about the lower levels of awards, because they are really lucrative.’

He also took a swipe at the Gardaí for not pursuing suspected fraudsters who make false claims. Mr D’Arcy told the Mail that insurance bosses had gone to gardaí in 2017 with as many as 400 cases which were believed to have be faked or exaggerated, but that the Gardaí failed to act.

At the time, a Garda spokesperson responded and said the force ‘continues to investigate cases of fraud’.

Responding to Mr D’Arcy’s remarks on RTÉ yesterday, the Alliance for Insurance Reform called on him to deliver on his promises.

Eoin McCambridge, director of the Alliance said: ‘The minister must realise that high premiums are costing jobs and are damaging the fabric of society.’ emmajane.hade@dailymail.ie