The compensation culture in Ireland: towards a greater understanding and recommendations for reform

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dc.check.date9999-12-31
dc.contributor.advisorHedley, Stephen William
dc.contributor.advisorO'Callaghan, Patrick
dc.contributor.authorLeahy, Jessicaen
dc.contributor.funderUniversity College Cork
dc.date.accessioned2026-09-30T16:02:41Z
dc.date.available2026-09-30T16:02:41Z
dc.date.issued2026-04-14
dc.date.submitted2026-04-14
dc.description.abstractThis thesis employs both a socio-legal and doctrinal approach to examine understandings of the phrase “compensation culture”, in order to consider the coincidence of perceptions and reality in the functioning of Ireland’s tort system. The term, though often used, is ill-defined and used as an umbrella term to cover many issues from personal injury fraud, an excess of claims, to a lack of personal responsibility, amongst others. The project’s ultimate objective is to determine stakeholder perspectives on issues in the system and whether identified issues require reform or are simply ingrained perceptions that have already been appropriately addressed through either legislation or caselaw. Three research questions were developed to achieve these aims: 1) How have ideas around compensation culture developed and what are the central themes of external accounts i.e., public views of the tort system? 2) What themes can be developed from the perspectives of those internal to the system? 3) Are the concerns raised valid legal issues or rather unfounded perceptions? If the former is accurate, what potential reforms could resolve these issues? The thesis explores external views of the tort system in relation to the concept of compensation culture by examining use of the term through a thematic analysis of newspaper articles. This informed an interview study conducted with 21 solicitors and 3 insurance industry representatives to uncover the internal understanding of the issues identified in the public view. A number of topics were identified as relating in various capacities to the term “compensation culture” when it is used. Not all could be addressed due to practical constraints but those considered in the thesis include personal injury claim volume, award levels, fraud and exaggeration, duty and standard of care, cost of insurance, personal responsibility, settlements and reform. The thesis critically analyses issues within the context of each overarching topic that have added nuance through the internal stakeholder view, using doctrinal analysis. In light of different approaches to compensation culture or litigation crisis type concerns in England and Wales as well as Australia, reforms are considered. In particular, it is argued that awards reform has not resulted reduced insurance costs. Therefore, it is suggested that awards should not continue to be targeted. Instead, it is proposed that awards be updated in line with inflation and legal costs be provided for within the Injuries Resolution Board process. The aim being to encourage acceptance of awards made by the body and reduce delivery costs as compared with litigation. With respect to insurance costs, accountability and transparency are the focus. It is proposed that reform similar to that adopted in England and Wales be implemented here. Namely, a statutory requirement for the industry to report whether and how reform savings have benefitted consumers. Fraud and exaggeration are also addressed, with the caveat that there is no reliable statistical or empirical indicator as to how prevalent these issues are. It is argued that a lapsed Bill that provisioned for a mandatory costs order to be made against the plaintiff when a case is dismissed be revived. The position of the “deliberate exaggerator” is also evaluated. Lastly, the thesis considers the power of perceptions and cautions against reactive reform that may not result in the desired outcome. It is argued that placing the common law on statutory footing is unlikely to assuage public concerns and proposes the use of information campaigns instead.
dc.description.statusNot peer revieweden
dc.description.versionAccepted Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationLeahy, J. 2026. The compensation culture in Ireland: towards a greater understanding and recommendations for reform. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.
dc.identifier.endpage328
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/19386
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherUniversity College Corken
dc.relation.projectUniversity College Cork (School of Law)
dc.rights© 2026, Jessica Leahy.
dc.subjectTort law
dc.subjectCompensation culture
dc.subjectPersonal Injury
dc.titleThe compensation culture in Ireland: towards a greater understanding and recommendations for reform
dc.typeDoctoral thesisen
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoralen
dc.type.qualificationnamePhD - Doctor of Philosophyen
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