The Dáil has passed the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) Bill 2007.
Under the legislation, claimants who reject an award assesment made by the PIAB but who fail to get more than that amount in later court procedings will no longer be able to claim legal costs.
The PIAB is an independent statutory body which assesses the amount of compensation due to a person who has suffered a personal injury. It has delivered awards in excess of €100 million since its establishment in 2004.
Today's Bill was passed despite criticism by Opposition parties and by the Law Society, who claimed yesterday that it was "hostile to consumers."
Fine Gael enterprise spokesman Phil Hogan TD called for a review of the PIAB to ensure that consumers will benefit most. He said savings made by insurance companies were not being passed on to the consumer.
"This shows that the system is skewed in favour of insurers and is not structured to ensure that sufficient benefits will be passed on to the consumer."
"The Government promised that consumers would benefit from any savings made in respect of processing insurance claims when the PIAB was established. This has not happened, and the savings from processing insurance claims have been retained by insurance companies and higher profitability rather than much lower insurance costs to consumers.
However, Ibec's head of occupational health and safety services Tony Briscoe said the Bill closed off of a loophole that he said was "encouraging unnecessary legal costs" in personal injury claims.
"With the establishment of the PIAB, there is now a cost-effective and speedy way to resolve personal injury claims, which is of great benefit to the general public," Mr Briscoe said.