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The Judicial Guidelines introduced in 2021, brought long awaited reform of the calculation of general damages in Ireland. Not only are the application of the Guidelines mandatory, they include a far greater range of injury. The Guidelines were endorsed by the judiciary and survived a Supreme Court challenge on their constitutionality.
The Guidelines were due to be revised in 2024 but it was not until early 2025 that the Judicial Council submitted draft amendments to the Minister of Justice. To much debate, the draft amendments did not involve a specific injury by injury review, rather a blanket 16.7% increase was proposed to reflect “significant global and national inflation”.
In July 2025 the Government signalled its intention not to seek parliamentary approval of the proposed amendments, although since then there has been an acknowledgement in Government that an out of date set of Guidelines could undermine the work of the Personal Injuries Resolution Board and increase the level and duration of litigation.
Furthermore, the Chief Justice, in his address marking the start of the new legal year in early October, warned that a failure to update the Guidelines will undermine the system as the courts will be increasingly asked or invited to depart from the Guidelines.
Comment
It is clear that the current position of a set of Guidelines entering their sixth year without review is unsatisfactory. Whether it is a 16.7% increase across the board or a more forensic line by line review, the Guidelines must be amended and formally adopted by parliament so that the system retains, in the words of the Chief Justice, “certainty and predictability”. The Government’s programme for Insurance Reform in 2026 includes a commitment to adjust the Guidelines review cycle and clarify the role of parliament in that review. It is imperative for all stakeholders that it delivers on that commitment.
Ireland