Sir, – Colm Keena's excellent article regarding case law on the scale of general damages awarded in Ireland is missing one keyword, "urgent" ("Many personal injury awards being reduced or dismissed", News, June 3rd.
As businesses continue to close and voluntary groups continue to wind down services because of spiralling insurance costs, we still await sight of a key Government amendment to the Judicial Council Bill empowering judges to recalibrate general damages.
When it does see the light of day, we expect it will give clear direction to the Judicial Council regarding the “binding principles” set out by the Court of Appeal, specifically that “modest injuries should attract moderate damages” and that damages should be proportionate in the context of a cap on general damages for catastrophic injuries of €450,000, otherwise the wait will have been futile.
Given that the Government has committed to having this enacted by the third week in June, the clock is well and truly ticking. – Yours, etc,
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PETER BOLAND,
Alliance for Insurance
Reform,
Dublin 4.