The logic underlying any personal injury claim is very simple: where a person's negligence causes someone else's accident, the latter deserves to be compensated.

Based on this logic, it would appear Ireland has become much more accident prone in recent years.

The number of personal injury court cases increased by 50% in the 10 years from 2007, while the number of compensation claims taken against local authorities went up by over 20% from 2012 to 2016.

Accidents come at a price: in the last five years alone, at least €387m has been spent on behalf of local authorities settling claims.

But some counties are more affected than others, with Limerick receiving more than three times the number of awards per capita, at the Injuries Board when compared to Kilkenny.

Meanwhile, some insurance companies say fraudulent claims could constitute as much as 10% of all claims.

Drawing on a wide range of data sources, RTÉ Investigates has spent the last six months researching this phenomenon.

Has 'compensation culture' gripped the country?

Or is it, as the legal profession argues, "an insurance industry myth"?