Civil Liability (Amendment) Act 2017 Explained: Periodic Payments Orders for Catastrophic Injury Cases in Ireland

What the Civil Liability (Amendment) Act 2017 Does

The Civil Liability (Amendment) Act 2017 gives the Irish High Court a statutory power to award damages for future care, future medical treatment and assistive technology by way of a periodic payments order — annual indexed payments for the lifetime of a catastrophically injured plaintiff — instead of, or alongside, a lump sum (section 2). The mechanism applies only where the injury meets the statutory definition of "catastrophic injury", and the court must be satisfied that continuity of payment is reasonably secure.

The Act has a second, distinct subject matter: Part 4 placed voluntary open disclosure of patient safety incidents on a statutory footing for the first time in Irish law. That regime has since been substantially overlaid by the Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023. This page focuses on the periodic payments regime, which is the dominant practical use of the 2017 Act in personal injury practice.

Part IVB has not stood still. Following the High Court's decision in Hegarty v HSE, Part 3 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023 reworked the indexation provisions and replaced the original section 51L (irishstatutebook.ie). The amendments commenced on 31 July 2023 by S.I. 389/2023. Indexation under the 2017 Act now sits to be specified by ministerial regulations, which had not yet been signed at the date of this article.

Key Sections of Part IVB (the Periodic Payments Regime)

Part IVB of the Civil Liability Act 1961, inserted by section 2 of the 2017 Act, contains eight sections (51H–51O). Section 51H sets definitions, 51I confers the operative power, 51J–51M govern security, alteration of the payment method, indexation and dealings in the right to payment, and 51N–51O handle appeals and transitional application. Several of these provisions were substantively amended by Part 3 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023, with the most significant change being a complete replacement of section 51L.

Section 51H — Catastrophic Injury and Other Definitions

Section 51H defines a "catastrophic injury" as a permanent disability requiring lifelong care and assistance in all activities of daily living or a substantial part thereof (section 51H, as inserted). The same section lists those activities — dressing, eating, walking, washing and bathing — and defines a child as a person under 18.

The threshold matters because no power under Part IVB is engaged unless the plaintiff falls within this statutory category. The wording is conjunctive and is deliberately narrower than "serious injury" elsewhere in Irish law. Section 12 of the 2023 Act inserted a definition of "periodic payments index" into section 51H, by reference to the substituted section 51L.

Section 51I — Power to Award Damages by Periodic Payments

Section 51I(1) confers the operative power: where a court awards damages for catastrophic personal injuries, it may order all or part of the damages relating to (a) future medical treatment, (b) future care, (c) assistive technology and aids, and (d) — only with the parties' written consent — future loss of earnings, to be paid by way of periodic payments (section 51I, as inserted). The court must have regard to the plaintiff's best interests and to the form of award best meeting the plaintiff's needs (s.51I(2)).

The written-consent requirement for the future-loss-of-earnings limb is practically significant. In the small number of catastrophic injury cases where PPOs have been actively considered, defendants have rarely consented to that element being paid by PPO; in practice, the future-loss-of-earnings element of a settlement is typically capitalised into a lump sum even where future care costs are addressed by interim payments or settled annual sums.

Stepped payments (s.51I(4)–(9)). The order may anticipate predictable life events and increase or decrease payments accordingly. Section 51I(5) lists examples: a plaintiff reaching 18, entering primary or secondary school, entering third-level education, or anticipated changes in care needs, including a move into residential care. The order must specify the change in circumstances on which the stepped payment is based, the date the change takes effect, the amount at current value, and how that amount will be adjusted by reference to the periodic payments index (s.51I(6)). If the anticipated change is later found unlikely to arise, the plaintiff must give written notice to the court and the paying party not later than 10 working days before the stepped payment was due to take effect, and the court will make appropriate adjustments (s.51I(7)–(9)).

Section 51I(6) sets out what the order itself must specify, including the annual amount, payment frequency, that payments are to be made for the plaintiff's lifetime, and the indexation method. Section 13 of the 2023 Act updated paragraphs (g) and (h)(iv) of section 51I(6) so that the indexation reference is to the "periodic payments index" rather than the HICP — a consequential change reflecting the substituted section 51L.

Section 51J — Security of Periodic Payments

The court may not make a PPO unless satisfied that continuity of the payments is "reasonably secure" (section 51J). The Act recognises three safe harbours: payments guaranteed under the Clinical Indemnity Scheme or General Indemnity Scheme operated by the State Claims Agency; payments eligible from the Insurance Compensation Fund or the Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland; or other means. Where the third safe harbour is relied on, section 51J(3) requires the court to consider whether the proposed means are capable of paying the plaintiff during life and of being adjusted by reference to the periodic payments index (the term substituted by section 14 of the 2023 Act for the previous reference to the HICP). The security requirement explains why most PPO discussion in Irish practice has involved State defendants — the Clinical Indemnity Scheme provides built-in security in HSE clinical negligence cases.

Section 51K — Alteration of Method of Payment

Section 51K allows the paying party to apply to the court to alter the method of payment specified in a PPO. The application must be on notice to the plaintiff (or to any person to whom the plaintiff has assigned the right under section 51M), and the court may approve an alteration only where the plaintiff consents, the court is satisfied that continuity of the payments remains reasonably secure, and the altered method is capable of adjustment by reference to the periodic payments index (a wording change made by section 15 of the 2023 Act). The provision is an administrative safeguard: it allows long-running payment infrastructure to be modernised over the lifetime of an order without requiring the order itself to be re-opened, while ensuring the plaintiff's protection is not weakened.

Section 51L — Indexation: From HICP to a Ministerial "Periodic Payments Index"

Section 51L is the most heavily-amended provision in Part IVB. As originally enacted, it required PPO payments to be adjusted annually by reference to the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) published by the Central Statistics Office, unless the Minister specified an alternative index by regulations after a five-year statutory review. The High Court's decision in Hegarty v HSE [2019] IEHC 788 — discussed under leading cases — found on uncontradicted expert evidence that HICP indexation would deliver only about 48% of a typical plaintiff's projected care costs by age 50, and that no judge protecting the plaintiff's best interests could approve a HICP-indexed PPO.

The 2023 substitution. Section 16 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023 substituted section 51L in its entirety (section 16, 2023 Act). Under the new section 51L, a PPO is to be adjusted annually by reference to "an index specified in regulations made under subsection (2)" — the "periodic payments index". The Minister for Justice, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, makes those regulations and may specify different indices for different goods and services, or a fixed-percentage increase to reflect inflation, including wage inflation, in the State. In making the regulations, the Minister must have regard to the relevance of the goods and services on which an index is based to the cost of care and medical expenses, the body calculating the index, accessibility of the index at the same time each year, and reliability over time (s.51L(3)).

The new section 51L also reframes the review obligation. The Minister must carry out an initial review not more than five years after the commencement of the substituted section, and a further review not more than five years after the initial review or where the Minister considers it appropriate (s.51L(4)–(5)). Regulations are subject to the standard 21-day annulment procedure in either House of the Oireachtas (s.51L(6)). The periodic payments index applies to annual adjustments made on or after the coming into operation of Part 3 of the 2023 Act (s.51L(7)).

Status of the regulations. The substituted section 51L came into operation on 31 July 2023 by S.I. 389/2023. The Interdepartmental Group on the Indexation Rate for Periodic Payment Orders reported in July 2024 and recommended a hybrid index made up of 80% of the Annual Rate of Change in nominal hourly health-sector earnings and 20% of the HICP, transitioning to figures from a forthcoming CSO structure of earnings survey. The Minister approved those recommendations (gov.ie). However, in a Parliamentary Question on 3 December 2025 the Minister confirmed that drafting of the necessary regulations was at an "advanced stage" but had not yet been completed (Oireachtas PQ 173/2025). At the date of this article, no periodic payments index had been formally specified, and that gap continues to constrain practical use of the regime.

Section 51M — Assignment, Commutation or Charging

Section 51M prohibits a plaintiff from assigning, commuting (i.e. exchanging for a lump sum) or charging the right to receive PPO payments without the approval of the court that made the order; any unapproved dealing is void (section 51M). When considering approval, the court has regard to whether the capitalised value represents value for money, whether the dealing is in the plaintiff's best interests, and how the plaintiff will be supported afterwards. This anti-circumvention provision protects the lifetime-payment structure against pressure to convert it back into a lump sum. The tax treatment of a court-approved commutation is not crisply settled in published Revenue guidance — section 189B of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 exempts payments "made … pursuant to a periodic payments order", and a commuted lump sum is more capital-like than periodic, so specialist tax advice is warranted in any commutation application.

Section 51N — Appeals

An appeal lies from a decision of the High Court under section 51I (the power to make a PPO), section 51J (security) or section 51M (assignment, commutation or charging) to the Court of Appeal on a point of law only (section 51N, as inserted). The narrow scope of appeal is significant: the High Court's evaluation of whether to make an order, whether continuity of payment is reasonably secure, and whether to approve a commutation, is essentially final on its facts. Appeals on the indexation provision (s.51L) and the alteration provision (s.51K) are not separately addressed in section 51N, and the ordinary appellate routes apply to those decisions.

Section 51O — Application of Part IVB

Section 51O determines which actions Part IVB applies to. The Part applies to personal injury actions relating to catastrophic injuries that are brought on or after the commencement of section 2 of the 2017 Act, and also to actions initiated but not concluded prior to commencement, including those subject to interim orders (section 51O, as inserted). The transitional reach is wide and is particularly important for long-running pre-2018 catastrophic injury cases where interim payments had already been ordered.

How the Act Has Been Amended and Has Amended Other Acts

The 2017 Act is itself a short Act that does most of its operative work by amending other legislation. Two subsequent statutes have made significant changes to the regime: section 82 of the Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023 modified Part 4 of the 2017 Act to align voluntary open disclosure with the new mandatory regime; and Part 3 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023 substantively amended sections 51H–51K and substituted section 51L in its entirety, moving indexation onto a regulation-based "periodic payments index". The 2017 Act in its present form is therefore a layered text — the original section 2 of 2017 read together with sections 11–16 of the 2023 Act and any future regulations made under the substituted section 51L.

Leading Cases on the Periodic Payments Regime

The case law on the 2017 Act is unusual: the most important pre-Act case (Russell) explained why legislation was needed, and the most important post-Act case (Hegarty) explained why, on its current statutory indexation, the legislation was not working. Both judgments are essential reading.

Beyond Russell and Hegarty, reported case law on Part IVB remains thin. The legislative and policy response to Hegarty has had three distinct phases. First, Part 3 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023 substituted section 51L so that the indexation rate could be set by ministerial regulations rather than fixed in primary legislation, and was commenced on 31 July 2023. Second, in July 2024 the Interdepartmental Group on the Indexation Rate for Periodic Payment Orders recommended a hybrid index of 80% Annual Rate of Change in nominal hourly health-sector earnings and 20% HICP, and the Independent Expert Working Group on Discount Rates recommended no change to the existing 1% (future care) and 1.5% (other future financial loss) rates set by the High Court in 2014; the Minister approved both sets of recommendations (gov.ie). Third, drafting of the implementing indexation regulations has continued through 2025; in a Parliamentary Question on 3 December 2025 the Minister stated that the regulations were at an "advanced stage" but had not yet been signed (Oireachtas, 3 December 2025). Until the regulations are made and a periodic payments index is specified, the central practical difficulty identified in Hegarty — that no functional indexation mechanism is available to a court asked to make a PPO — has not been removed by primary legislation alone, and most catastrophic injury cases continue to be resolved by lump sum and interim payment arrangements.

How the Act Interacts with Other Legislation

The 2017 Act sits inside an interlocking framework of personal injury statutes, and almost all of its operative provisions take effect by amendment to other Acts.

Civil Liability Act 1961: The PPO regime exists as Part IVB of the 1961 Act, not as freestanding provisions. Sections 51H–51O are read as part of the wider damages framework, including provisions on concurrent wrongdoers and survival of actions on death — see our Civil Liability Act 1961 reference page.

Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004: Section 6 of the 2017 Act amends section 17 of the 2004 Act so that, in a catastrophic injury case, a formal offer must specify proportions attributable to future medical treatment, future care, assistive technology and future loss of earnings, with separate costs treatment.

Insurance Act 1964: Section 3 of the 2017 Act removes the statutory cap on Insurance Compensation Fund payouts where the insured liability is a PPO — preventing an insolvent insurer's catastrophic injury PPO obligations from being curtailed by the 1964 Act's general payout limit.

Bankruptcy Act 1988 and Taxes Consolidation Act 1997: Section 4 of the 2017 Act protects PPO payments — other than any future-loss-of-earnings element, which vests in the Official Assignee — from the bankruptcy estate. Section 5 inserts section 189B into the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 and exempts all payments under a PPO, including any future-loss-of-earnings element, from income tax. Together these provisions support the PPO's role as durable, lifetime, largely tax-free income for the plaintiff.

Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023: Part 4 of the 2017 Act now operates in tandem with the 2023 Act, which introduced a mandatory open-disclosure regime for a list of "notifiable incidents" — a substantial advance on the voluntary regime in Part 4. Section 82 of the 2023 Act amends Part 4 of the 2017 Act consequentially, so that the two regimes interlock without overlap. For practitioners, the practical position from late 2023 onwards is that any incident meeting the statutory definition of a "notifiable incident" must be disclosed under the 2023 Act, while voluntary disclosure of other patient-safety incidents continues under the 2017 framework. Older incidents may need analysis under the older voluntary regime where the issue arose before commencement of the 2023 Act.

Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023: Part 3 of the 2023 Act (sections 11–16) is the most significant single amendment to the 2017 Act since its enactment. It substitutes section 51L of CLA 1961 in its entirety and amends sections 51H, 51I, 51J and 51K to refer to a new "periodic payments index" specified by ministerial regulations. The amendments commenced on 31 July 2023 by S.I. 389/2023 (irishstatutebook.ie). The 2023 Act also separately amends section 17 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 in catastrophic injury contexts (s.50) and inserts a new section 17A providing for pre-action offers to settle clinical negligence claims (s.51) — both of which work alongside the 2017 Act's framework on formal offers in catastrophic injury cases.

Rules of the Superior Courts: S.I. No. 430 of 2018 amended Order 1A of the Rules of the Superior Courts so that a personal injuries summons may include a statement that the plaintiff's claim is one in respect of which it is appropriate to make a periodic payments order, and so that the procedural treatment of such applications is regularised (irishstatutebook.ie). Practitioners pleading a catastrophic injury claim in which a PPO may be sought should follow the Order 1A pleading requirements.

Periodic Payments Orders in Practice

The doctrinal architecture of Part IVB is more complete than its day-to-day use suggests. From the regime's commencement on 1 October 2018 to the date of this article, court-ordered PPOs have remained rare in catastrophic injury litigation, and most catastrophic cases continue to settle by lump sum or by structured interim payments. Four interlocking factors explain that gap.

The indexation gap. As Hegarty v HSE made clear, the original HICP-based indexation produced systematically inadequate compensation over the lifetime of a typical care plan. Although Part 3 of the 2023 Act has substituted section 51L to allow a more suitable index to be specified by regulation, no such regulation had been signed at May 2026. The "string" of Part IVB therefore remains in tune only in principle.

The future-loss-of-earnings consent requirement. Section 51I(1)(d) requires the parties' written consent before a future-loss-of-earnings element is included in a PPO. Defendants in catastrophic injury cases have generally not consented, with the result that even where future care costs might be addressed by periodic payments, the future-loss-of-earnings element is typically capitalised into a lump sum.

The narrow security pool. The "reasonably secure" requirement in section 51J means that, in practice, PPO-suitable cases have largely been confined to defendants whose payment obligations are guaranteed by the Clinical Indemnity Scheme — most often, HSE clinical negligence claims. Private defendants, even when insured, face a heavier evidential burden under section 51J(3) to demonstrate continuity, and the absence of a specified index complicates that demonstration.

Plaintiff preference for control. A lump sum gives a plaintiff and family flexibility to manage funds, invest, and respond to unforeseen care needs that the order's stepped-payment provisions may not anticipate. A PPO offers durability and protection against running out, but at the cost of liquidity. In an environment where the indexation regime is uncertain, plaintiffs and their advisers have often preferred control to durability.

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