Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 July 2020
922. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Health if he has received a full breakdown of the legal costs of fighting court cases in relation to the administration of the Pandemrix vaccine; and his views on whether the State should continue to spend fighting court cases against persons that suffered narcolepsy after receiving the vaccine. [18101/20]
View answerThe management of litigation against the State by persons alleging Narcolepsy and/or Cataplexy following the receipt of the H1N1 vaccine, Pandemrix, is delegated to the State Claims Agency. I do not have any legal authority to direct the State Claims Agency to deal in any particular way with a claim which falls to the State Claims Agency to manage.
I am advised that this litigation is on-going and is being case-managed by a Judge of the High Court who has assigned a lead case a specially fixed date for hearing on the 14th November 2020. Therefore, the legal costs have not been finalised.
In the first case, in this cohort of similar claims, which was settled in November 2019, the State Claims Agency received a legal costs bill from the plaintiff’s solicitor, in the sum of 6,302,318 Euro, which is now subject to a costs adjudication process.
In relation to the State’s legal costs, I am advised that these have been front-loaded in respect of the two lead cases and have not been finalised.
An Expert Group was established in June 2018, chaired by Mr Justice Charles Meenan, to examine the law in relation to personal injuries arising in the healthcare context and to explore alternative mechanisms by which claims could be managed more effectively, particularly from the perspective of the person on whose behalf a claim has been made.
Judge Meenan submitted the Final Report of the Expert Group to the Minister for Health and the Minister for Justice and Equality earlier this year. All recommendations of the Group are currently being considered by both Departments, with a view to bringing a joint Memo to Government, for its consideration, as soon as possible.
