Pearse Doherty
Question:160. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance the purpose of SI 182; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21104/14]
View answerTuesday, 13 May 2014
Questions (160)
Written answers
It is Government policy, as stated in Public Financial Procedures, that State bodies should not purchase insurance. This is based on the principle that the claims costs to the Exchequer in a given year would be far less than the premiums charged for commercial insurance cover. The National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Act 2000, and subsequent Delegation Orders, delegated to the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) a range of functions in relation to the management of personal injuries claims, including bullying and harassment and third party property damage claims, and their associated risks, against specified State authorities. The Agency is known as the State Claims Agency (SCA) when performing these functions.
It has become practice that each new Order rescinds and replaces the previous Order, thus having the relevant State authorities listed together in one document. Statutory Instrument No. 182 of 2014 is the latest of such Delegation Orders. It delegates the management of insurance claims against a number of additional bodies to the State Claims Agency, allowing those bodies to dispense with commercial insurance for employers' and public liability and third-party damage. The SCA, which is tasked with minimising costs for the State, has a team of professional claims managers, litigation solicitors and specialists in the area of litigation risk management whose expertise will be available to the delegated bodies.