The Injuries Resolution Board recently reported that €213 million in personal injury compensation was paid during 2025 to people injured in accidents. Headlines about figures like these often generate strong reactions. It is easy to look at the total and conclude that compensation awards in Ireland are excessive or that people are receiving large payouts for relatively minor injuries.
Having represented accident victims for well over a decade, and seen countless clients through the Injuries Board process as well as through injuries litigation, I know that headline figures rarely tell the full story. Behind every successful claim is someone whose life has been changed by an accident. In my experience, when compensation appears substantial, it is because the consequences of the injury are substantial.
Personal Injury Compensation Reflects the Impact of an Injury
When people see a six-figure personal injury compensation award reported in the news, it is easy to focus on the injury itself. In practice, however, compensation often reflects the wider impact that the injury has on a person’s life. The injury is only part of the picture; the law also takes account of the practical and financial consequences of that injury for the individual concerned. This is why two people with similar injuries may receive very different amounts of compensation.
A serious accident may leave someone unable to return to work for months or even years. They may require ongoing physiotherapy, further surgery, specialist equipment, home adaptations or long-term care. Parents may need additional childcare, while someone who previously maintained their home or cared for family members may now need to pay for those services.
These are real financial losses arising from the injury.
They are supported by medical evidence and, where appropriate, expert reports that assess what the injured person is likely to need in the future.
The Largest Awards Usually Reflect Catastrophic Injuries
The highest individual award reported by the Injuries Resolution Board last year exceeded €900,000. Without any context, that number can seem extraordinary.
In my experience, awards of that size almost always involve catastrophic injuries or fatalities, where the consequences extend far beyond the accident itself.
One of the things that often surprises people is that, in a fatal accident claim, the compensation is not simply ‘for dying’. It is intended to reflect the tangible losses suffered by the people left behind. If someone was the main income earner for their family, their death may mean decades of lost financial support. If they cared for children or grandchildren, maintained the home or provided day-to-day support for a spouse, those are real losses that now have to be replaced with paid services.
Similarly, where someone survives a catastrophic injury but can no longer work, their claim may include the income they have lost, the cost of future treatment or care, and other financial consequences that flow directly from the accident. Those figures are not arrived at arbitrarily.
Every Significant Part of a Claim Must Be Supported by Evidence
Claims are not valued by guesswork or by simply accepting what an injured person says they have lost. These cases are supported by expert evidence and detailed financial analysis. The resulting financial assessments are not arbitrary figures.
Medical practitioners assess the nature and extent of the injuries. Consultant specialists may provide opinions on future treatment. Engineers may investigate how a workplace accident occurred. Occupational experts may assess future care needs, while actuaries may calculate significant future financial losses. Every substantial element of a claim must be supported by evidence. If someone is claiming for future medical treatment, loss of earnings or the cost of adapting their home, those losses must be capable of being proved.
Serious Injuries Cannot Always Be Valued Immediately
One of the reasons experienced personal injury solicitors are cautious about settling claims too early is that the full impact of an injury is often unknown in the weeks and months after an accident.
Immediately after an accident, everyone hopes for a straightforward recovery. However, some injuries take time to declare themselves. A person who expects to return to work within a few weeks may still be undergoing treatment six months later. Further surgery may become necessary, rehabilitation may take longer than anticipated, or an injury that initially appeared temporary may have lasting consequences.
Until that medical picture becomes clearer, it may be impossible to accurately assess the true value of a claim.
This is also why people should be cautious if they are contacted by an insurance company shortly after an accident and offered a quick settlement. Once a claim has been settled, it is generally not possible to return months or years later and seek additional compensation because the injury proved to be more serious than anyone initially expected.
From an insurer’s perspective, resolving a claim quickly provides certainty and may limit future financial exposure. That does not mean every early settlement offer is unreasonable. It does mean that anyone considering such an offer should first understand the likely long-term impact of their injuries.
The Injuries Resolution Board Does Not Pay Compensation
One of the most common misunderstandings I encounter about the Injuries Resolution Board is that it is the Board itself that pays compensation to people who have been injured in accidents. When people see a figure like €213 million, some assume that this money is being paid out by the State or funded by taxpayers. In reality, that is not how the system works.
The Board is not a compensation fund and it does not write cheques to injured people.
The Board’s role is to independently assess the value of a claim using the medical evidence and other information provided by both parties. It then decides what it believes to be an appropriate amount of compensation and presents that assessment to both sides. That assessment is effectively a recommendation.
Once the assessment has been made, both parties decide whether to accept it. If both the injured person and the insurer accept the assessment, the insurer pays the agreed amount and the claim is resolved. The money itself never comes from the Injuries Resolution Board.
If either party rejects the assessment, the Injuries Resolution Board authorises the claimant to bring court proceedings, where the claim can be judged or settled through the normal litigation process.
The Board’s role is to provide an independent assessment that may help resolve claims without the time and expense of a court hearing.
It assesses what a claim is likely to be worth, but the responsibility for paying compensation rests with the insurer of the person or organisation found to be legally liable.
Looking Beyond the Headlines
Large national compensation figures will always attract attention, but they tell only part of the story.
Behind those figures are people whose injuries have affected their ability to earn a living, care for their families or live independently. Compensation cannot undo what has happened to them. Its purpose is to recognise the losses that flow from an injury and, so far as money can, help put the injured person back in the position they would have been in had the accident not occurred.
When viewed in that context, the €213 million reported by the Injuries Resolution Board is not simply a headline figure. It represents thousands of people whose injuries had real consequences, and a legal system that seeks to compensate those consequences based on evidence rather than assumption.
Dervila McGirr
Dervila has helped countless clients impacted by accidents and injuries the Injuries Board process, and when necessary, through personal injuries litigation and settlements.