A surge in injury claims paid by taxpayers is being blamed on State agencies failing to learn from mistakes and tackling the causes of costly cases.

The litany of questionable compensation claims brought before our courts may suggest an incomplete understanding of the idea of fair play or integrity. This defect is misused by insurance companies to justify eye-watering premiums — a justification holed below the water line at a recent Oireachtas hearing. A recent survey concluded that legal professions — other professions, too — drive these claims for reasons that have little enough to do with the majesty of the law. These issues came together this week when a judge dismissed a case brought by a boy who claimed his school was negligent in supplying him with a deflated football that caused him to break his wrist during a soccer match. Judge Gerald Keys dismissed the case by Julius Kroka, aged 14, taken against Ennis Educate Together, saying that if he won, “I think you have to stop playing football altogether in schools.”

The latest annual report by PIAB – the state body which assesses personal injury compensation – shows the number of applications increased by 0.8% to 33,371 claims.

Thirty compensation claims-harvesting websites have been shut down in the last few years, while another 15 were forced to change their content. This was done to dampen the market for personal injury cases.

Supermac’s founder Pat McDonagh claims the judiciary is ‘letting the whole country down’ in the way it handles compensation cases.

Research presented at a conference held by the Personal Injuries Assessment Board also found that 82% believe there is a compensation culture in Ireland.

Former High Court president, Nicholas Kearns, is chair of the Personal Injuries Commission which has found that personal injury payouts here are 4.4 times higher than in Britain.

Minister of State at the Department of Finance and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael D’Arcy has criticised the “bananas, off the wall amounts” that “some members of the judiciary” are awarding in cases.

A justice system without, or diminished, integrity quickly becomes a liability to the society it was established to protect. A system that does not radiate objectivity and commonsense quickly becomes an object of suspicion and eventually derision.

People will feel like they are dealing with a “runaway train” if the opportunity to sort out the compensation claims crisis is missed, a senior judge has warned.

There is no practical way of prosecuting somebody for insurance fraud in this country, say experts as they urge the creation of a dedicated Garda unit There is an oddly polite language used in court around the issue of personal injury fraud.

Almost €1m has been paid out in compensation on foot of 54 public liability claims within a decade, following incidents on some of Cork City’s most pedestrian-friendly streets.

Introduction of a Court of Appeal has seen insurance awards cut and claims dismissed, writes Caroline O’Doherty

A COURTROOM is a difficult, stressful place for most lay people.