The Personal Injuries Assessment Board (“PIAB”) has published a book showing the level of damages the Board will recommend for various injuries.

The book is incomplete. We see this from the case of Kenny v Cowley [2006] IESC 37.

In this case the Plaintiff had a defective left eye before the accident (for which accident the defendant was liable). His right eye was injured in the accident and his vision in it was much reduced. The Supreme court judge writing the consensus judgment noted that the PIAB book did not deal with the loss of an eye. (In fact, the plaintiff’s claim was not simply for the loss of an eye; it was for the loss of his only useful eye).

The Supreme Court decided the award of €90,000 by the High Court for the injury was too low. It increased the award to €120,000.