The Garda Síochána (Compensation) Acts 1941 and 1945 provide for a scheme of compensation for members of the force who are maliciously injured in the course of their duty or during the performance of their duties and for the dependants of members who have died from injuries maliciously inflicted on them.
In accordance with the provisions of section 6 of the 1941 Act, a member of the Garda who has been maliciously injured may sue the State only by authorisation issued by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. At present there are approximately 1,100 applications for compensation being processed under the Acts.
Information regarding the number of applications for compensation received and the number that have been authorised and heard by the High Court is only available for the last eight years. These figures, together with the position up to 31 October 2003, are detailed in the following table.
Information on the number of outstanding applications for each of the past ten years is not readily available. It would be difficult to collate such information given the large number of applications and their various stages of processing.
