Action Plan for Insurance Reform: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-13
============================================================

Pat Casey (FF), Labour Panel

Legal costs, which are modest through the Injuries Resolution Board, can escalate dramatically in the courts. We have a system where similar outcomes are achieved but at far greater cost and delay. That is not satisfactory for SMEs, policyholders or claimants. The direction of reform here must be clear. We need to ensure that more suitable cases are resolved through the Injuries Resolution Board rather than simply passing through it on the way to litigation. We should also examine whether the board can play a stronger role as the first instance decision-making body in straightforward cases. At the same time, we must address the issue of legal costs proportionality. The principle already exists in parts of our court system and we now need to see it applied more consistently across personal injuries litigation. There must also be progress on the proposed Judicial Council (amendment) Bill to ensure the stability of the personal injuries guidelines and to avoid renewed upward pressure on awards. We should also be cautious about proposals that could unintentionally drive costs back up, including increases in court jurisdiction limits. Experience shows that changes like this can lead to higher awards and those higher awards inevitably translate into higher insurance premiums.
This issue is about more than economics. It is about fairness and trust. It is about ensuring businesses can operate with competence, communities can retain their local services and people feel the system is working for them, not against them. When we step back and take a look at the overall picture, the path forward is clear. We must build on the progress made, improve transparency and understanding, actively drive competition and tackle the structural costs within the legal claims system. Without addressing those underlying issues, the burden on SMEs will remain. Insurance reform is not a single event but an ongoing process. If we are serious about supporting SMEs and sustaining our local economies, that process must deliver not just headline figures but real, tangible change in the day-to-day reality of running a business in this country.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-13/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:56+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-13