Vol. 521 No. 2
13 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Taoiseach if a State claims manager has been appointed to the Office of the Chief State Solicitor; if so, when the appointment was made; the terms of reference of the appointment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16372/00]
A senior claims manager was appointed to the Chief State Solicitor's office in January 1998. The appointment was on the basis of a three year contract to perform any duties assigned in relation to the economic settlement of litigation against the State and particularly personal injuries claims against the Department of Defence.
(Mayo): How many claims have been made since the appointment, from what Departments and in respect of what amount of money?
When the claims office was set up, it worked differently from what was initially envisaged. The claims manager had been involved in the formulation of policy in consultation with the Attorney General and the Department of Defence. However, the size of the claims and the level of the settlements were too high at the time so it was decided that it was not appropriate to engage in full scale settlement discussions or to set up a compensation board. The development has now moved in a different way and the claims are being negotiated on the basis of a number of cases, particularly the Hanley case.
At present, discussions are taking place with the main solicitors on behalf of the plaintiffs and the Department of Defence. All cases have been adjourned in the courts in this session and it is the intention to facilitate settlement discussions based on the Hanley case. I do not have the exact number of claims but I believe it is several thousand.
The time for Taoiseach's questions has expired. I will allow the Deputy a very brief supplementary.
(Mayo): I would like to have explored this further. Perhaps the question should have been called at 3.15 p.m. Is the Taoiseach satisfied that all Departments are co-operating with the new claims manager? There is an indication that there is not full co-operation. There is little point appointing a claims manager if all Departments do not co-operate fully with the new appointee.
I replied to a similar question recently. All Departments are co-operating but they might not do it in the same way. Some Departments have little or no claims and other Departments have all the work. The claims manager will devise a united approach by Departments in handling personal injuries claims in their areas of responsibility. There will be a meeting shortly where he will discuss with the human resources and personnel managers the system he wants to be followed. They will, therefore, follow his approach.
