The Book of Quantum and the 16.7% increase: what applies now and what might change

Search for what an injury is worth in Ireland and you will still find the Book of Quantum: PDFs of it, tables copied from it, and sites quoting its figures as if they applied. They do not. This guide explains what the Book was, why it still appears, what replaced it and by how much, and the increase that has been approved and is not in force.

What the Book of Quantum was

The Book of Quantum was the Board's guide to the level of general damages, published under section 54 of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003. The Board first published it in 2004 and revised it in 2016. It set out ranges for categories of injury based on awards that had been made, and the Board and the courts had regard to it when assessing general damages.

It was criticised for the width of its ranges, for the lack of a method for placing an injury within them, and for the level of Irish awards for minor injuries compared with other jurisdictions. The Judicial Council Act 2019 answered that by giving the task to the judiciary: a Personal Injuries Guidelines Committee of judges would draft guidelines, the Judicial Council would adopt them, and the Board and the courts would have regard to them instead.

What replaced it, and when

The Judicial Council adopted the Personal Injuries Guidelines on 6 March 2021. Section 99 of the 2019 Act was commenced on 24 April 2021, and from that date the Guidelines apply to any claim that had not been assessed by the Board. The Book of Quantum continues to apply only to claims assessed by the Board, or proceedings issued, before that date.

In practice that means every claim being made now, and every claim assessed by the Board since April 2021, is a Guidelines claim. The Guidelines explained guide covers how they work; the whiplash, back and other bracket guides quote them section by section.

Why old figures still appear

Three reasons. The Book was online for years and copies of it remain. Law firm pages written before 2021 were often not taken down. And the Book's figures were higher for the commonest injuries, so a page that quotes them attracts clicks.

This site does not reproduce the Book's figures. They are not the law for any claim you can make now, and quoting them beside the Guidelines' brackets would only mislead. Where you see a figure for whiplash or a back injury that is well above the brackets in the guides here, check its date.

The Guidelines' lower brackets

The Guidelines set lower figures for minor injuries than the Book did, and that was the point. The Guidelines' introduction says awards "must be proportionate to the injuries sustained and must also be proportionate when viewed in the context of awards of damages commonly made in cases involving injuries of a greater or lesser magnitude", and places the most catastrophic injuries at in or about €550,000 so that everything else can be set in proportion.

The Guidelines' bracket for an injury described like a minor neck injury with a substantial recovery within six months is €500 to €3,000; within six months to a year, €3,000 to €6,000; within one to two years, €6,000 to €12,000. The minor back brackets are the same by recovery period, with a fourth bracket of €12,000 to €20,000 where recovery without surgery takes two to five years.

The effect shows in the Board's own figures. The Board's median award was €18,459 in 2020, the last full year under the Book of Quantum, and €14,020 in 2025. The Board reports that as a fall of 24%. Both figures are on the figures page, and the Board figures guide explains what a median does and does not show.

The 16.7% increase

The 2019 Act required the Guidelines to be reviewed within three years of their adoption. The Personal Injuries Guidelines Committee carried out that review and, in December 2024, proposed amended Guidelines with an overall increase of 16.7% to reflect inflation since 2021. The Judicial Council approved the amended Guidelines the same month.

They are not in force. The 2019 Act, as amended by the Personal Injuries Resolution Board Act 2022, provides that amended Guidelines take effect only after a positive resolution of each House of the Oireachtas. The Minister has to move that resolution, and has not. The Law Society Gazette reported in October 2025 and again in January 2026 that the Government had not put the amended Guidelines before the Oireachtas.

So the position at 14 October 2026 is this. The Judicial Council has approved a 16.7% increase. The Oireachtas has not been asked to approve it. Every bracket in force, in the Board's assessments, in the courts and in the injury checker, is the 2021 figure. The changes page tracks the resolution and will say the day it moves.

What the increase would do

The amended Guidelines would raise the brackets by 16.7% overall. The Council's amended figures are the Council's, and this site does not show them while they have no legal effect, because a reader who saw them beside the current brackets would have no way to know which applied. When the Oireachtas passes the resolution, the injury checker will show both editions with the date the switch takes effect.

The increase would apply from whatever date the resolution or the amended Guidelines specify. Whether it would reach claims already in the Board's process on that date is a question the resolution would have to answer; the 2021 Guidelines applied to claims not yet assessed, and the same approach may be taken, but nothing is settled until the resolution is moved.

The Judicial Council (Amendment) Bill 2026

In January 2026 the Government published the General Scheme of a Judicial Council (Amendment) Bill 2026. It would move the review of the Guidelines from every three years to every five, and add a route for the Council to reconsider amendments. It does not itself change any bracket, and it does not bring the 16.7% increase into force. A General Scheme is a proposal: it becomes a Bill, goes through both Houses, and is enacted before it does anything. The changes page lists it as proposed.

What this means for a claim today

If your claim is being assessed by the Board now, or will be, the 2021 Guidelines apply and the brackets in the guides here are the ones the Board has regard to. The Board must have regard to the Guidelines under section 20(5) of the 2003 Act; the assessment guide describes how it uses them.

If the resolution passes while a claim is open, the changes page and the injury checker will change on the day. Nobody can say when that will be, and a decision to accept or reject an assessment should rest on the Guidelines as they stand, not on an increase that may or may not arrive. The accept or reject guide covers that decision.

Where this leaves you

The Book of Quantum is history, the Guidelines of 2021 are the law, and the 16.7% increase is approved and waiting on the Oireachtas. That is the whole position, and it has not moved since December 2024. The changes page keeps the three apart, dated and sourced, with the Judicial Council's resolution, the 2026 Bill and the Board's figures each in their place, and it is the page to check before relying on any figure you find elsewhere.