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Departmental Legal Cases

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022

Tuesday, 26 July 2022

Questions (1011)

Peadar Tóibín

Question:

1011. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Defence the number of legal cases brought against his Department in each of the past ten years and to date in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39986/22]

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 2012 to 2021, and up to 30 June 2022 are outlined in the table below.

Year Received

Personal Injury Claims

Employment Claims

Total

2012

89

38

127

2013

105

25

130

2014

128

39

167

2015

124

34

158

2016

112

13

125

2017

117

17

134

2018

220

27

247

2019

170

9

179

2020

83

12

95

2021

71

35

106

2022 (up to 30 June)

26

4

30

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 2012 to date. The total number of Personal Injury and Employment Law cases that are ongoing as at 30 June 2022 is 515 cases.

Since its establishment on 1 October 2015 there have been 26 complaints made to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), with the Minister for Defence listed as the Respondent in all such cases. Prior to this, employment related complaints were handled by various agencies such as the Labour Relations Commission. 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. Details of complaints in the period outlined in the Deputy’s question are set out in the table below:

Year Received

Work Relations Commission (WRC)

Labour Relations Commission

Equality Tribunal

2012

0

0

0

2013

0

0

1

2014

0

1

0

2015

0

0

0

2016

3

0

0

2017

6

0

0

2018

4

0

0

2019

1

0

0

2020

3

0

0

2021

8

0

0

2022(up to 30 June 2022)

1

0

0

In addition, the Civil Defence which operates at national level under the Department of Defence, has advised that 7 Public Liability claims and 1 Personal Injury claim were received in the period from 2012 to date.

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