asked the Minister for Local Government the amount of compensation for malicious damages awarded (a) against Dublin Corporation, and (b) in the whole country, in the last 12 months for which figures are available.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Malicious Damages Compensation.
69.
Information as to the amounts of compensation awarded for malicious damage, as requested by the Deputy, is not available in my Department. The latest year for which my Department have full details of amounts paid by local authorities in compensation for malicious injuries is the local financial year ended 31st March, 1974. In that year, Dublin Corporation paid £329,827 in such compensation while the figure for the whole country, including Dublin Corporation, was £693,535. As regards Dublin Corporation, I have been informed that in the nine months ended 31st December, 1974, £608,024 was paid by the Corporation in respect of malicious injury decrees; a corresponding figure for the other local authorities is not yet available.
I might mention the Government's recent decisions to ease the burden of malicious damage on ratepayers. The Exchequer now meets in full the cost of compensation for malicious injuries caused by the use of explosives and attributable to the disturbances in Northern Ireland; my Department paid out £833,226 in respect of such malicious injury decrees to local authorities in the course of the nine-month financial period up to 31st December last. In the current year the Exchequer is also meeting that part of the cost of malicious injury decrees which exceeds 20p in the £ on the ratepayers in any local authority area.