367 / 482
GAZETTE
OCTOBER 1989
(ii) Where the Plaintiff receives
Social Welfare assistance,
which is means-tested, under
the 1981 Act as amended,
sums paid by way of damages
are not taken into account. The
reason is that damages are
regarded as capital and are
treated as such for the purpose
of administering the means
test.
(iii) Where the relief sought is not
damages under the Civil Lia-
bility Acts but compensation
under an ex t r a - s t a t u t o ry
scheme the rules provided by
the scheme are applied. In
The
State (Hayes) -v- Criminal In-
juries Compensation Tribunal
21
the widow of an Aer Lingus
employee killed when a bomb
exploded claimed compensa-
tion in respect of the death of
her husband. The Criminal
Injuries Compensation Tribunal
had been set up by the govern-
ment without any enactment
and was authorised to award
compensation in such cases.
The rules of the scheme
provided that any award was to
be reduced by the amount of
any social welfare payments
payable as a result of the injury.
The High Court decided that
this deduction was permissive
and, furthermore, held that
S.50 of the 1961 Act had no
application in the circum-
stances. Finlay P. (as he then
was) reasoned that where you
are seeking compensation from
an extra-statutory tribunal and
that tribunal is entirely funded
by Government money you are
prevented f r om obtaining
double payment from the same
source.
(iv) The Common Lay Rule, as we
have seen in the
Byrne
v
case
was essentially that gains
should be set off against
losses. That position has been
affected by statutory reform
but is nevertheless relevant in
many respects. Consequently
when one assesses loss of
future earnings in personal
injuries actions one seeks the
figure representing the net
loss.
22
Income Tax that would
have been payable by the
plaintiff, under PAYE or self-
assessment and also PRSI, it
taken into account. Kenny J. in
the High Court in
Glover -v-
B.L.N. (No.2)
23
stated that
"Income tax enters into the
economic lives of so many of
our citizens that the law cannot
ignore it when assessing
damages". The
Glover
case
followed an earlier English
House of Lords decision in
British Transport Commission -
v- Gourley
24
which held that in
assessing the plaintiff's dam-
ages for loss of future earnings
an allowance equivalent to the
income tax that would have
been paid by the plaintiff must
be made in reduction of the
gross amount of such damages.
In
Cooke -v- Walsh
25
the
Supreme Court held that
Income tax, PR.S.I. and other
deductions which would have
been made from the plaintiff's
gross pay, had the plaintiff
been uninjured, must be taken
into account in assessing
damages for loss of future
earnings.
Di f f erent considerations
apply to actions based in
contract. Finlay P. (as he then
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