Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 31 Jan 1995

Vol. 448 No. 3

Written Answers. - Claims Statistics.

Pat Upton

Question:

205 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Defence, in respect of claims for negligence and nuisance against his Department for each year since 1990, the total number of claims made; the total number of claims settled; the total amount of money paid in settlements; the total amount of money paid in legal costs arising from the settlements; the total number of claims outstanding at present; and the estimated cost of these claims. [2096/95]

Minister for Defence (Mr. Coveney)

The information sought by the Deputy in so far as it is available is as follows:

	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994
Total number of claims made	334	334	330	354	782
Total number of settlements/awards	154	177	204	206	210
Total amount paid in settlements/awards	£2.181m	£2.571m	£2.793m	£2.729m	£3.633m
Total amount paid in Plaintiffs' costs*	£.631m	£.743m	£.820m	£.830m	£1.115m

*The State's legal costs are paid from the Vote for the Attorney General.

The number of claims outstanding at present is 1,687. It is not possible to estimate the value of these claims. The provision in the Defence Estimate for 1995 for compensation is £4.8 million.