Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 3 Jun 1992

Vol. 420 No. 6

Written Answers. - Prison Officers' Compensation Statistics.

Ruairí Quinn

Question:

73 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Justice if in respect of each year since the scheme began he will outline (a) the annual cost of the scheme of compensation for personal injuries criminally inflicted on prison officers (b) a breakdown of the amounts between, on the one hand compensation for costs incurred by claimants including loss of earnings and medical costs, and on the other hand compensation for pain and suffering and (c) the number of claims made each year since the scheme commenced.

Minister for Justice (Mr. Flynn)

The Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted on Prison Officers was introduced on 1 June 1990 and provides for the payment of compensation in respect of injuries sustained by prison officers on or after 1 April 1986.

The information sought at (a) and (c) is as follows:

Year	Total Amount of Compensation Paid	Number of Claims Received
1990	Nil	72
1991	£45,012	42
1992 (to 31 May)	£39,728	11

These figures include claims made in respect of incidents occurring during the period 1 April 1986 to 31 December 1989.

The administrative cost of the Prison Officer Scheme is included in that of the General Scheme.

Under the terms of the scheme the Tribunal, in making an award of compensation, is not required to quantify the component elements of the award. Accordingly, the breakdown sought at (b) in the question is not available.