Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 November 2019
152. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance a breakdown of pay outs by the State Claims Agency by the various settlement channels including awards through the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, by court award or by settlement in each year since 2015, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48998/19]
View answerThe State Claims Agency (SCA) is part of the National Treasury Management Agency, which is a body under the aegis of the Minister for Finance. As such, the SCA have supplied the information included in this report, and confirmed that it is correct as of 31 October 2019.
The following figures relate to claims which have been concluded and where damages have been paid across the Clinical and General Indemnity Schemes.
The first table contains information regarding the damages paid on claims which have been concluded from 2015 to 2019 year to date, broken down by year the payment was issued. Here, damages refer to the compensation paid to a claimant in personal injury claims for the pain and suffering arising from a physical and/or mental injury (known as General Damages) and/or the compensation paid to a claimant for out of pocket expenses incurred such as loss of earnings, vehicle damage, etc.
|
Transaction Date |
Number of Claims |
Damages |
|
2015 |
1,101 |
€164,940,956 |
|
2016 |
1,239 |
€180,141,716 |
|
2017 |
1,342 |
€216,282,039 |
|
2018 |
1,574 |
€245,281,393 |
|
2019 YTD |
1,298 |
€249,277,307 |
|
Total |
6,326 |
€1,055,923,411 |
The SCA has advised me that payments can be made during multiple years with respect to a single claim and as such will contribute to the claims counts in each of the relevant payment years over the life cycle of the claim. The Total Claim Count shows the number of claims for which payments were made between 2015 and 2019 without such reporting duplication. Total number of unique claims is 6,326.
The following table details damages paid from 2015 to 2019 year to date on claims concluded, broken down by case outcome.
|
Case Outcome |
Number of Claims |
Damages |
|
Settlement Agreed |
5,637 |
€1,002,963,260 |
|
Injuries Board Assessment Accepted |
468 |
€12,079,958 |
|
Lodgement/tender accepted |
97 |
€3,718,541 |
|
Court Award |
83 |
€35,025,293 |
|
Case Discontinued/Claim Statue Barred |
26 |
€1,809,102 |
|
Case Dismissed |
7 |
€125,045 |
|
Indemnity Received |
5 |
€135,886 |
|
Section 17 - Offer Accepted |
3 |
€66,324 |
|
Total |
6,326 |
€1,055,923,411 |
The Case Outcome heading provides details with regards to the outcome of the claim. The subheadings are broken out as follows:
- Settlement Agreed: A negotiated settlement has been agreed with the Plaintiff for damages. This category includes some claims that go to court and are either settled on the steps of the court or are settled during the court case but before the case concludes.
- Injuries Board Assessment Accepted: A negotiated settlement has been agreed with the Plaintiff for damages or an Injuries Board award accepted.
- Indemnity Received: The SCA obtained a full indemnity, in respect of the claim, on behalf of the relevant State Authority from the Insurers of a negligent Third Party motorist.
- Case Discontinued/Statute Barred: The claim against the State Authority was discontinued and/or withdrawn by the Plaintiff, or the Statute of Limitations rendered the claim Statute Barred and prevented the claim from proceeding.
- Outside SCA Remit: These claims were not managed by the State Claims Agency.
- Case Dismissed: A judge has dismissed a Plaintiff’s claim at the conclusion of the trial.
- Court Award: A judge has made an award of damages to the Plaintiff at the conclusion of the trial.
- Lodgement/tender accepted: A lodgement is where a defendant paid money into Court while a tender is an offer to settle a claim for a specified amount and is based on a statutory provision.
- Section 17 - Offer Accepted: Section 17 is a settlement offer made pursuant to a statutory provision - Section 17 of the Civil Liability & Courts Act 2004.
