By 26 March this year settlements had been reached in a total of 1,431 cases and court awards following hearing had been made in 91 cases. A further 64 cases were successfully defended or withdrawn. Compensation of £36.4 million and accrued plaintiff costs of £8.5 million have been paid in respect of 1,586 cases finalised. Since the beginning of the year 1,233 cases have been received, an average of 90 per week.
The report of the interdepartmental committee has been presented to Government and will be considered by the Cabinet at the earliest opportunity. The Department of Health and Children's "Green Book" Disability Assessment report has also just become available and consideration will be given to the impact of this report on the issues concerned.
It is not possible to indicate in any definite way the likely final number of claimants. There are already some 10,500 cases awaiting court hearing. At current levels of awards these could amount to £210 million with an additional £105 million in legal costs for both plaintiffs and the State.
The Chief State Solicitor met with the Incorported Law Society on 12 March and a full and frank exchange of views took place. It was agreed to have a further meeting when requested by the society. Since the granting of an adjournment of these cases on 6 February 1998 the importance of the concerns of the Law Society has, to some extent, been overtaken by more recent developments including the publication of the "Green Book" and the establishment of a Cabinet sub-committee to recommend on the course of action to be followed.
