Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 February 2022
203. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of claims assessed by the Personal Injuries Assessment Board which resulted in no award being made in each of the years from 2019 to 2021; the reasons no awards were made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4886/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraFor the period 2019 to 2021 the number of assessments made by the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) which resulted in a nil value award being made are listed in the table below.
The table also lists the number of assessments made by PIAB that were rejected by either party (Claimants/Respondents).
|
- |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
|
Number of zero assessments (nil value €0 awards) |
53* |
4 |
2 |
|
Number of assessments not accepted (rejected awards) |
5,417 |
4,221 |
4491** |
* One of these 53 cases was an assessment made in 2018 but issued in 2019.
** Not a final tally – full figures not yet available.
For the cases in 2019 and 2020 the nil value awards were made due to insufficient evidence to make a reasonable assessment (usually involving non-attendance at medical examinations). The Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) Act 2019 inserted Section 51C into the Primary Act which provides discretion to the courts to make no award of costs where a claimant or respondent fails to comply with the request of a PIAB assessor including the non-attendance at medicals of a claimant.
The two cases of nil value awards in 2021 were made under the new personal injuries guidelines which commenced from the 24th of April 2021 and based on the medical evidence and the guidelines did not warrant an assessment of damages.
With regard to assessments not accepted in the time period, it is open to either party to accept or reject an assessment made by PIAB.
