Chapter 4 of 9: What an injury is worth: Rule-change tracker
Personal injury law in Ireland, 2026: what is in force, what is approved but not in force, and what is still a proposal
Checked 15 October 2026against the Judicial Council, the Board, the Irish Statute Book, the Oireachtas and the Central Bank.
The Personal Injuries Guidelines adopted in March 2021 are still the Guidelines in force. The Judicial Council approved a 16.7% overall increase in December 2024, but it needs the Oireachtas, which has not been asked; the General Scheme of the Judicial Council (Amendment) Bill 2026 would move reviews to every five years. The Board's respondent charge rose to €1,200 on 1 December 2025. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme is being amended after the Court of Justice of the European Union to cover pain and suffering. Section 220 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015, which would change the one-month letter, is not commenced. This page keeps those apart.
Key dates each year
Board annual report
July (the Annual Report and the January to June Award Values Report)
Award values reports
January (July to December) and July (January to June)
Fees regulations
Any time; the respondent charge last changed on 1 December 2025
Budget day
October (Injury Benefit and other welfare rates for the following January)
The Board config is re-read on every fees regulation and every annual report; the welfare block on every Budget.
What changed
Respondent charge €1,200 · from 1 December 2025
From 1 December 2025 the charge a respondent pays the Board for an assessment or mediation is €1,200, up from €1,050 (S.I. No. 557/2025).
The Board's 2025 figures · from 8 July 2026
The Annual Report 2025 (8 July 2026): 20,077 applications, 10,032 awards, a median award of €14,020, a 47% acceptance rate during 2025 and a 54% mediation agreement rate.
Injury Benefit €254 a week · from 1 January 2026
The Budget 2026 rate for Injury Benefit and Illness Benefit from January 2026, to be checked against the Department's page.
What did not change
The Personal Injuries Guidelines of 6 March 2021: every bracket the injury checker shows is the 2021 figure. The approved 16.7% increase is not in force.
The two-year limitation period from the accident or the later date of knowledge, and the one-month section 8 letter.
The Board's periods: 90 days for the respondent, 9 months to assess from consent, 28 days for the claimant and 21 for the respondent to accept, the 10-day cooling-off after a mediated agreement.
The application fee: €45 online, €90 by post.
The costs rule in section 51A where a claimant rejects an assessment the respondent accepted.
What is being tracked
The amended Personal Injuries Guidelines: the 16.7% increase
Approved by the Judicial Council, not in force
What it affects: Every bracket in lib/rules/guidelines.config.json and the injury checker. The Judicial Council Act 2019 (as amended by the Personal Injuries Resolution Board Act 2022) requires a positive resolution of both Houses of the Oireachtas before amended Guidelines take effect. Until then the 2021 figures apply, and the config is edition-aware so a second edition can be added with an effectiveFrom.
6 March 2021, done
Guidelines adopted by the Judicial Council
Adopted under section 7 of the Judicial Council Act 2019; they apply to claims not assessed by the Board before 24 April 2021.
Amended Guidelines approved by the Judicial Council
The Council approved the amendments in December 2024. They take effect only after a positive resolution of each House of the Oireachtas, which the Minister has not moved; the Law Society Gazette reported in October 2025 and January 2026 that the Government had not put them to the Oireachtas.
Only then do the amended figures take effect, from the date the resolution or the Guidelines specify. The config gains a second edition with an effectiveFrom and the injury checker shows both until the switch date.
What it affects: How often the Guidelines are reviewed (every five years instead of three) and a route for the Council to reconsider amendments the Oireachtas does not approve. It does not itself change any bracket.
20 January 2026, now
General Scheme approved by Government
The Government approved the General Scheme of the Judicial Council (Amendment) Bill 2026 in January 2026: reviews of the Guidelines every five years, and a reconsideration mechanism. Carson McDowell's March 2026 overview summarises it.
Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme: pain and suffering
Amendment announced, commencement to be confirmed
What it affects: What the Scheme pays: historically expenses and loss only, not general damages. The Court of Justice of the European Union's ruling on the Compensation Directive led the Government to amend the Scheme in 2026 to cover pain and suffering. The two-year absolute limit is unchanged.
20 April 2021, done
The 2021 Scheme: two-year absolute limit
The revised Scheme made the two-year application limit absolute and kept the exclusion of pain and suffering.
The Law Society Gazette reported in July 2026 that the Scheme is being amended following the CJEU to compensate pain and suffering. The commencement date and the terms are to be confirmed against the published Scheme.
Legal Services Regulation Act 2015, section 220: the section 8 letter
Enacted 2015, not commenced
What it affects: Section 8 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 (the one-month letter) and, under section 221, a three-year limitation period for clinical negligence actions. Neither is in force; the time-limit checker applies the current one month and two years.
30 December 2015, now
Act signed
Sections 220 and 221 are in the Act but have never been commenced; the revised text of section 8 shows them as pending amendments.
Injury Benefit and Illness Benefit rates: Budget 2027
Awaiting Budget 2027 and the Social Welfare Act
What it affects: The Injury Benefit weekly rate the special damages worksheet uses as the expected deduction. The 2027 rate is entered in lib/rules/board.config.json with an effectiveFrom as soon as the Act is made.
1 January 2026, now
€254 a week in force
The Budget 2026 rate, to be checked against the Department's page.
Next: Award Values Report January to June 2026 (January 2027)
What it affects: The figures register (/figures): the median, average, highest award, acceptance rate and application count. The monthly routine reads the Board's news page; a human merges.
8 July 2026, now
Annual Report 2025 and Award Values Report July to December 2025
20,077 applications, a median of €14,020, 47% acceptance, 54% mediation agreement, €88 million in savings claimed.
The Central Bank's National Claims Information Database reports
Next: private motor report, autumn 2026
What it affects: The channel figures on /figures and in the accept-or-reject explainer: what a claim costs and how long it takes settled directly, through the Board, or litigated.
31 October 2025, now
Private motor report (2024 data)
16% of motor injury claims settled through the Board in 2.7 years on average; 36% through litigation in 5 years.
Checked daily against the official record first. Each entry links the source it came from and says which kind it is.
6 October 2026, press report
Budget 2027 raises core welfare rates by €10 a week
The Budget delivered on 6 October 2026 raises core weekly social welfare rates by €10 from January 2027, covering about 1.6 million people including pensioners, jobseekers, carers and disability recipients. Press coverage did not name Illness Benefit or Injury Benefit specifically; the exact 2027 Injury Benefit rate awaits the Social Welfare Act.
Board commissions survey on accepting or rejecting assessments
The Injuries Resolution Board announced an Ipsos B&A survey of claimants and respondents on why assessments are accepted or rejected. Half of assessments were accepted in 2024 and 47% during 2025. No change to any rule.
Annual Report 2025: 20,077 applications, median award €14,020
The Board published its Annual Report 2025 and the Award Values Report for July to December 2025: applications down 4% on 2024 and 35% on 2019, 10,032 awards worth €213 million, a median of €14,020 (up 7%), mediation agreed in 54% of cases in about three months, and over €88 million in savings claimed.
General Scheme of the Judicial Council (Amendment) Bill 2026
The Government approved a General Scheme moving reviews of the Personal Injuries Guidelines from every three years to every five, and adding a route for the Council to reconsider amendments. The 16.7% increase approved in December 2024 remains outside the Oireachtas.
S.I. No. 557/2025 set the charge a respondent pays the Board at €1,200 from 1 December 2025, up from €1,050. The claimant's application fee is unchanged.
The seventh private motor NCID report: 16% of injury claims settled through the Board, taking 2.7 years on average, and 36% through litigation, taking 5 years. Litigated claims cost far more in legal fees than Board or direct settlements.