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Departmental Legal Cases

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 July 2021

Tuesday, 13 July 2021

Questions (394)

Peadar Tóibín

Question:

394. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Defence the number of legal cases brought against his Department in each of the past five years and to date in 2021; and if he will provide details on the nature of these cases. [37806/21]

View answer

Written answers

The Department's Litigation Branch manages litigation claims taken against the Minister for Defence. In doing so, the Branch works closely with both the State Claims Agency (SCA) and the Chief State Solicitor’s Office (CSSO). Personal injury cases taken against the Minister for Defence are managed on behalf of the Minister for Defence by the SCA, and Employment Law matters taken against the Minister for Defence are managed on behalf of the Minister for Defence by the CSSO. The number of Personal Injury and Employment Law cases received in each year from 2016 to 2020, and up to 30 June 2021 are outlined in the table below.

Case Type

Received in 2016

Received in 2017

Received in 2018

Received in 2019

Received in 2020

Received in 2021 (up to 30 June 2021)

Personal Injury Cases

112

117

220

170

83

47

Employment Cases

13

17

27

9

12

10

Total

125

134

247

179

95

57

The Deputy will be aware that a case does not always start and finish in the same calendar year, and in some instances the cases can run over a number of years. The figures provided above show the number of new cases received in each of the years 2016 to date. The total number of Personal Injury and Employment Law cases that are ongoing as at 30 June 2021 is 539 cases.

Since 2016 there have been 23 complaints made to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), with the Minister for Defence listed as the Respondent in all such cases. Complaints made may originate from either the Defence Forces personnel or civilians. The Chief State Solicitor's Office is responsible for the State's legal representation for complaints lodged with the WRC. These are set out in the table below.

Case Type

Received in 2016

Received in 2017

Received in 2018

Received in 2019

Received in 2020

Received in 2021 (up to 30 June 2021)

Workplace

Relations Commission (WRC)

3

6

4

1

3

6

In addition, the Civil Defence which operates at national level under the Department of Defence, has advised that 3 Public Liability claims and 1 Personal Injury claim were received in the period from 2016 to date.

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