Time for the Legislature to rectify the indexation problems in the PPO legislation

Marian Fogarty of Cantillons Solicitors contributes to RTE’s report calling on the Legislature to rectify the indexation problems in the PPO legislation – you can hear and read the report here: https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2022/0418/1292937-payments/

Note: a Periodic Payment Order (PPO) provides financial security to a Plaintiff and is designed to meet the care and other needs of a catastrophically injured Plaintiff over the course of their lifetime.  It is a full and final settlement similar to a lump sum, the only difference being the PPO is paid out periodically. The current PPO legislation is set out in Section 2 of the Civil Liability (Amendment) Act 2017 and was commenced on October 1, 2018.

However, in the case of Hegarty v HSE – where Cantillons solicitors acted for the Plaintiff – the High Court in November 2019, noted the Plaintiff’s experts’ evidence was unanimous that the indexation chosen (HICP) by the Legislature in the PPO legislation will as a matter of probability, not meet the future care needs of catastrophically injured persons.  Therefore, the Court (charged with protecting the best interests of the Plaintiff), could not approve of a PPO in its current legislative form.  As a result, vulnerable catastrophically injured Plaintiffs are being deprived of the choice of electing for a PPO (which is meant to provide more certainty and less risk than a lump sum payment) for as long as the deficits in the PPO legislation remain.

Contact us at Cantillons Solicitors at +353 (0)21 -4275673 or info@cantillons.com if you would like more information.

* In contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage of any award or settlement