Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 1 Oct 1998

Vol. 494 No. 3

Written Answers - Personal Injury Claims.

Jim Higgins

Ceist:

251 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of claims for personal injuries made against his Department between 1990 and 1997; the number of these claims in respect of which compensation was paid; and the total amount paid for each of these years. [18195/98]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

The information sought by the Deputy is set out in the following tabular statement:

Year Claim Lodged	Number of Claims	Number of Claims in respect of which Compensation was Paid	Amount of Compensation
1990	2	–	–
1991	–	–	–
1992	–	2	£3,995 in respect of two 1990 cases
1993	1	–	–
1994	–	–	–
1995	–	2	£3,769.15 in respect of 1993 claim. Also £14,000 in respect of 1989 claim.
1996	2	–	–
1997	1	–	–

Garda Vote: Civil Action Cases and Actions Involving Official Vehicles.

Year Claim Lodged	Number of Claims	Approximate Number of Payments **	Total Expenditure including Compensation and Legal Fees
			£
1990	472	*	1,106,294
1991	483	*	1,685,782
1992	484	*	1,995,411
1993	531	*	5,274,742
1994	582	396	2,652,472
1995	590	412	2,495,499
1996	639	374	2,715,096
1997	659	534	3,898,449

* Figures not available.

** Multiple payments are frequently made in respect of individual cases because of separate issues for settlements/awards and costs.

Claims under the Garda Síochána (Compensation) Acts, 1941 and 1945.

Year Claim Lodged	Number of Claims	Number of Claims in respect of which Compensation was Paid	Amount of Compensation
			£
1990	262	216	1,945,000
1991	301	250	3,707,000
1992	372	293	4,471,000
1993	325	151	2,450,000
1994	283	167	3,482,000
1995	360	240	3,533,000
1996	264	150	2,523,000
1997	258	50	1,388,000

Prisons Vote.

Year Claim Lodged	Number of Claims	Number of Claims in respect of which Compensation was Paid	Total Expenditure including Compensation and Legal Fees
			£
1990	137	35	268,132
1991	133	46	327,550
1992	103	34	357,111
1993	69	37	529,884
1994	95	50	473,709
1995	120	38	750,189
1996	122	47	737,720
1997	102	59	883,037

With respect to the Prisons Vote it is not possible, within existing resources, to state in relation to claims received in any given year the number of such claims in respect of which compensation was paid.

Year Claim Lodged	Number of Claims	Number of Claims in respect of which Compensation was Paid	Total Expenditure including Compensation and Legal Fees
1990	1	–	–
1991	2	–	–
1992	–	–	–
1993	1	–	–
1994	4	1	£14,660.34 in respect of one 1990 case.
1995	1	–	–
1996	4	–	–
1997	5	2	£6,103.25 in respect of one 1994 case and one 1996 case.