Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 June 2019
274. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of claims brought to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal in 2018 and to date in 2019; the number of claims settled in 2018 and to date in 2019; the value of the settlements in 2018 and to date in 2019; the number of cases on hand in view of the review he is undertaking; the number of these older than five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25547/19]
View answerI can inform the Deputy that the number of General Scheme applications received by the Tribunal in 2018 was 174 and to date in 2019 is 71. In 2019 payments were made in respect of 21 applications at a cost of €6.33m, including on foot of an additional €2.4m which I obtained as part of a Supplementary Estimate. To date in 2019 payments have been made in respect of 9 applications at a cost of €0.65m.
I am informed that the assessment of the caseload of the Tribunal will be submitted to me shortly. I will revert to the Deputy with a further update at that point.
I can further inform the Deputy that the Law Reform Commission published its fifth Programme of Law Reform on 5 June 2019. A review of the Scheme of Compensation for Injuries Criminally Inflicted is one of the fifteen projects identified in the Programme, which I welcome as an opportunity to examine in detail this long established scheme.
