The Gazette 1991

april 1 9 91

g a z e t t e

This figure does not take into account the marriage prospects-f of the plaintiff; nor does it take into account any risk of unemployment, redundancy, illness, accident or the like, it assumes that the plaintiff, if uninjured, would have continued to work, week in and week out, until retirement . . . would have [in effect] guaranteed employment at a constantly increasing annual rate of wages, until retirement or prior death" a 1983] IR 141, 146, [1984] ILRM 197, 201). It seems that the taking account of these risks, while they might have been recog- nised, was not put into practice until after the Supreme Court judgment in the Reddy -v- Bates case. This is usually referred to nowadays as the Reddy and Bates discount. We see therefore that in certain circumstances actu- arial evidence must be provided but it is to be used

only as a guide-line. Haberman and Bloomfield in their paper put forward a theoretical approach to the quantification of contingency discounts. They point out that there is difficulty in obtaining «' . • . the taking into account of [the risks of unemployment, redund- ancy, illness, accident or the like] . . . was not put into practice until after . . . Reddy -v- Bates the necessary data so that the theory can be put to practical use. I suggest similar dif- ficulties exist in obtaining the necessary data in this country. This is an area where, perhaps, research could be undertaken. ^Editor's Note: see now Fitzsimons -v- Electricity Supply Board and Bord Telecom Eireann, High Court (Barron J), 31 July 1990, The Irish Times Law Report, 12 November 1990.

the labour market. Both these risks are incidental to any employment of a working man and if one were to accept the actuarial figures it would amount to insuring the Plaintiff against either risk for the rest of his probable working life. This would place him in a position of security which he could never have obtained if he had not been injured by accident. Consequently i consider that the actuarial evidence cannot be availed of as an established loss, but merely as a guide-line which must be discounted to allow for the risks to which / have referred." In his judgment in the Reddy -v- Bates [1983] IR 141, [1984] ILRM 197 appeal Mr. Justice Griffin said "in calcuating the [loss] the actuary allowed for the possibility of death, using standard mortality tables, having regard to the sex of the plaintiff, and allowing for changing interest rates... .

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