Foilsiú
52284 (31 March 2023)
Ó Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
Ó Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal
In the matter of an application under the Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted
Decision of Three Members at first instance
Name of applicant: [ ]
Application number: 52284
Date of incident: [ ]
Date of application: [ ]
Decision outcome: The applicant is awarded the sum of €68,642.18 under the Scheme.
1. [ ] (‘the applicant’) has made a claim for compensation under the Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted (‘the Scheme’).
2. In his application for compensation under the Scheme, dated [ ], the applicant stated that he had suffered serious injuries, including brain injuries and facial fractures, on the [ ] in [ ]. While the applicant has no recollection of the injury it appears from the Garda Report that the applicant’s assailant knocked the applicant unconscious and beat him with a [ ] causing him serious head injuries. The applicant’s assailant was convicted of Assault causing Serious Harm as a result of this incident.
3. Paragraph 20 (formerly para 21) of the Scheme states (with emphasis added):
“Applications should be made as soon as possible but, except in circumstances determined by the Tribunal to justify exceptional treatment, not later than three months after the event giving rise to the injury”.
4. In order to assess whether a late application is admissible therefore, the Tribunal must determine whether there are circumstances, which on its consideration, justify exceptional treatment.
5. While in this case there was a delay of over a year, this was in the context of a person recovering from a criminally inflicted brain injury. This justifies the exceptional treatment of accepting the application for consideration.
6. From the foregoing, the Tribunal is satisfied that the applicant has established, on the balance of probabilities, that he was a victim of a crime of violence and sustained personal injury which is directly attributable to that crime of violence. The incident was reported to the Gardaí on the night of the attack thereby meeting the requirement of Para 22 of the Scheme that the matter be reported without delay.
7. Accordingly, the application is admitted for consideration under the Scheme.
8. The Tribunal may make awards of compensation for expenses that are incurred as a consequence of the injury sustained by a crime of violence. Typically this covers the cost of treatment and loss of earnings, where it can be shown that the loss was caused by the injury. However the Scheme does not allow the Tribunal to make any award for general pain and suffering caused by the injury: Para 6(e) of the Scheme.
9. In this case the applicant has not claimed for the cost of treatment because he had a medical card at the time of the assault. However in his application form the applicant states that he has not been able to afford to replace a tooth which is missing as a result of the assault. No fee estimate or detail of the injury nor of any treatment which might have been necessary was supplied however. As such the Tribunal is unable to make an award in respect of this claimed injury.
10. The applicant has claimed for loss of earnings under the Scheme. He says that because of the injuries he was not able to obtain work as a [ ] after obtaining his injuries. He says that albeit he was unemployed at the time of the incident, his recovery and rehabilitation prevented him from obtaining work in the years after the assault.
11. The applicant was [ ] years old when he was assaulted on [ ]. That he sustained serious head injuries is substantiated by the Garda Report of [ ] and the fact that he was subsequently found entitled to illness and then disability benefit.
12. Prior to the assault the applicant worked on and off for a [ ]. His revenue record shows that he worked for 39 weeks in [ ], 42 weeks in [ ], and 31 weeks in [ ]. There is no record of the applicant working in [ ] or up to the time of his assault in [ ].
13. Social Welfare records show that the applicant was in receipt of illness benefit from [ ], and thereafter he received disability allowance until [ ]. The sums received comprise:
| Dates | Item | Sum |
| [ ] - [ ] | Illness benefit | €10,001.40 |
| [ ] - [ ] | Disability Allowance | €69,117.90 |
| Total | €79,119.30 |
14. In a letter to the Tribunal Secretariat dated [ ], the applicant states:
“I am back working full time now for over four years. I am a qualified [ ]. I started my apprenticeship at the age of [ ] and though I wasn’t working before the assault it was due to the recession, I was laid off with a lot of people at the time. I would have done anything to be working and did return as soon as I could because of seizures due to my injuries as well as it took a while and I am back now and grateful for my job.
It was a hard few years and I am now as good as I will be I have a memory problem but that’s expected and I am finished with the hospitals. All I can say is that I would have been earning a good wage if the assault didn’t happen and I would like you to consider this.”
15. An employment detail summary from Revenue for [ ] is included in the papers (dated [ ]). This shows that for an insurable period of 45 weeks in that year the applicant worked for [ ], and that in that period he earned €32,853 gross. Less income tax (€3,340.48), USC (€765.86) and employee PRSI (€1,262,64) the net earnings for [ ] were €27,484.02. This document also gives a start date of [ ] for this employment.
16. A letter received on [ ] confirms the above, and that the applicant wished for his file to be considered for a decision. It also sets out that due to the passage of time receipts for travel and expenses are no longer available.
17. A difficulty in this case is establishing when the applicant would have resumed full time employment as a [ ]. The position is that he was not in work at the time of the assault in [ ] due to the recession, but the applicant argues he would have resumed employment sooner but for the injury. He in fact resumed employment in [ ].
18. The Tribunal accepts that but for the applicant’s injuries he would have returned to work earlier. There is no exact science to estimating when that would be, and indeed the Tribunal must also consider whether other factors (such as periods of illness/employer downtime/pursuing other career or family concerns) would have had an impact on earnings in the [ ] period under consideration. Taking all of these aspects into account, the Tribunal deems it appropriate to award the applicant the equivalent of four years’ income in compensation for the impact of the assault.
19. Four years earnings, prior to deductions, is reasonably calculated by using the applicant’s [ ] net income as a headline and multiplying it by four. This results in a sum of €109,936.08, from which social welfare benefits then have to be deducted.
20. From [ ] to [ ] the applicant received €41,669.90 in disability allowance, from the headline figures supplied by the Social Welfare Services Office by letter of [ ]. This also discloses that the weekly allowance the applicant received in [ ] was €188. The Tribunal is concerned with the period between [ ] onwards. As such, two weeks’ of disability allowance in [ ] (in the sum of €376) are not properly deductible. The full deductible sum is €41,293.90.
21. This deducted from the potential earnings of €109,936.08 during the relevant period leaves a sum of €68,642.18, which represents the sum awarded in respect of loss of earnings in this case.
22. Paragraph 14 of the Scheme permits a withholding or refusal of compensation having regard to an applicant’s conduct, character or way of life. The applicant has a criminal record which comprises 3 convictions for [ ], 5 for [ ], 3 for [ ], 2 for [ ] and 1 for [ ].
23. The Tribunal does not find that the nature or quantity of convictions amounts to evidence of a violent character or way of life that would render it appropriate to deduct any sums from the applicant’s award in this case.
24. The Tribunal awards the applicant the sum of €68,642.18 in compensation for the criminally inflicted injuries sustained by him on [ ].
Tricia Sheehy Skeffington BL, Martin Lawlor, Nora-Pat Stewart BL
Members, Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal
31 March 2023