The head of the Personal Injuries Commission says the rate of reform in the sector is too slow.
Nicholas Kearns has been speaking at a conference held by the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) today.
The PIAB has been examining current and future issues in the personal injuries landscape in Ireland.
At the moment, personal injury payouts are 4.4 times higher than they are in the UK.
According to research presented at today’s event, 80% of people believe there is a compensation culture in Ireland and 62% of people agree that there is a need to reform the way personal injury compensation is determined.
It also found that there is a huge appetite for customers to use technology like black boxes and dash cams to reduce insurance premiums.
A bill recommended by Mr Kearns which would change guidelines as to how amounts are awarded and assessed has been sitting in the Seanad for 681 days.
The former High Court President said things need to move faster.
"We seem to be having a tortoise race between the competing approaches in trying to resolve the matter which is very disheartening for owners of small businesses who face closure and extinction because of the delay in bringing abut an effective solution," he said.
Linda Murray who owns a children’s play centre in Navan said she is always worried someone will make a false claim against her business.
"If I'm not in the centre and the phone rings and I see the number coming up I get an immediate knot in my stomach," she said.
"You dread the phone call in case someone has had an accident."
Reporting from Kim Buckley
