The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, has named Ms Patricia Byron as chief executive of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB), the new body which will adjudicate on compensation claims as part of the Government attempt to lower insurance premiums.

The Government says the PIAB will begin hearing cases by mid-spring, having been formally established on a statutory basis last December. Ms Byron, who is chairwoman of the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland (MIBI), will take up the role on February 1st.

Ms Harney seized on the announcement to reiterate her confidence that the PIAB would help solve many of the problems facing the insurance sector. "Litigation costs in personal injury cases have contributed to the high cost of insurance in this country and genuine claimants have had to wait far too long for their cases to be settled," she said. "I am confident the PIAB will address these problems."

The PIAB will be confined to hearing employer liability cases in the first months of its existence, extending to public and motor liability on June 1st.

Having overseen a reform programme within the MIBI, the body that regulates compensation for victims of accidents involving uninsured and untraced drivers, Ms Byron is regarded as ideally qualified to lead the PIAB.

She is also a senior claims executive at Hibernian insurance. Ms Byron was the first female loss adjuster in the Republic and the first woman president of the Insurance Institute of Dublin.