The Tánaiste predicted that the establishment of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) would significantly reduce insurance premiums to the benefit of consumers and business.
Ms Harney said it was generally recognised that litigation costs added between 40 per cent and 50 per cent to the cost of a personal injury claim.
"It is intended that the PIAB will make significant inroads in this figure.
"The PIAB will, however, carry out a cost-benefit analysis of the new system as against the system prior to the introduction of the board and this will indicate the reduction in the level of litigation." She said that the pricing and underwriting of insurance was a matter for individual insurance companies and that EU law prevented governments from intervening directly regarding premium levels.
"However, it is expected that reductions in litigation costs will lead to corresponding reductions in premium levels."
The Fine Gael spokesman on enterprise and employment, Mr Phil Hogan, said there was considerable concern among those operating small businesses about the increasing level of premiums being charged by insurance companies for employers' liability and public liability insurance.
Ms Harney said that according to the Central Statistics Office, motor insurance premiums were down 14 per cent, and it was estimated that that level could be reduced by that percentage again or perhaps more.
Pressed further by Mr Hogan, the Tánaiste said that employers' liability and public liability insurance premiums were only beginning to reduce.
