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Tribunals of Inquiry Expenditure

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 January 2014

Tuesday, 28 January 2014

Questions (706, 707, 708)

Clare Daly

Question:

706. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to risks or improprieties which led to his decision to overhaul completely the staff of the Hepatitis C and HIV Compensation tribunal in Autumn 2012; and his views on the manner in which the tribunal operated its financial affairs from 2007 to 2012. [3768/14]

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Clare Daly

Question:

707. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Health if he will put on record any financial data, consultants' reports or relevant disclosures that he relied upon to overhaul the staff of the Hepatitis C and HIV Compensation tribunal. [3769/14]

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Clare Daly

Question:

708. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Health if there was a budget deficit carried over on the Hepatitis C and HIV Compensation tribunal accounts of €17 million in 2007, which improved to a €106.6 million surplus in 2009; and the reason the tribunal switched the format of its online reports in 2010 in a manner which prevented tracking and public accountability of this item on its accounts. [3770/14]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 706 to 708, inclusive, together.

The Minister for Health appoints the members of the Hepatitis C and HIV Compensation Tribunal under Section 3 of the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act l997. Ministerial appointments to the Tribunal are made on the nomination of the Attorney General. The term of office of the Chairperson of the Tribunal and each member is specified by the Minister for Health when making each appointment. The Minister does not play a role in regard to the staffing of the Hepatitis C Tribunal.

The term of office of six members of the Tribunal expired on 31 July 2012 and the term of office of a further seven expired on 10 October 2012. I appointed seven ordinary members to the Tribunal for a three year term beginning 21 September 2012, six of whom were new members. My decision on these appointments to the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal was not influenced by financial data or consultants' reports.

Under Sections 10 and 11 of the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act l997, the Department of Finance established two Special Accounts to meet the costs of the Tribunal. The Hepatitis C Compensation Scheme is a demand led scheme and it can be difficult to accurately estimate future payments within calendar years. While the accounts of the Tribunal may show a surplus or a deficit from year to year, this reflects the demand arising and Vote accounting timing issues within particular calendar years.

The format of the Annual Report for the Tribunal was changed in 2010 but all the information contained in previous Annual Reports was retained. In the printed copy of the 2011 Annual Report the legal costs are presented as in previous Reports. However, the 2011 Annual Report as placed on the website of the Tribunal inadvertently placed the legal costs within the Reparation Fund heading. This was subsequently amended to reflect the printed publication.

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