Clare Daly
Ceist:1310. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Health if a person (details supplied) has a family relationship with another person that was involved in vaccine trials. [32538/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 24 July 2018
Ceisteanna (1310, 1311)
Clare Daly
Ceist:1311. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Health the definition of certain vaccine damage claims referred to in point "b" of the list of broad areas to be examined by the expert group considering alternative mechanisms to the court process for resolving clinical negligence claims. [32539/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1310 and 1311 together.
An Expert Group chaired by the High Court Judge, Mr Justice Charles Meenan, is being established to review the law of torts and the current system for the management of clinical negligence claims.
The establishment of the Expert Group arises from a commitment made in the Programme For A Partnership Government (May 2016). This states 'We will tackle the rising cost of claims by establishing an expert group to report within 6 months on options for reforming the law of torts and the current claims process, particularly when it comes to birth injuries and catastrophic injuries, and injuries that can result from vaccination’.
Clause (b) of the Terms of Reference of the Expert Group is that the Group will:
b) consider whether there may be an alternative mechanism to the court process for resolving clinical negligence claims, or particular categories of claims, particularly from the perspective of the person who has made the claim. To do this, the Group will examine whether a mechanism could be established which would deal more sensitively and in a more timely fashion with catastrophic birth injuries, certain vaccine damage claims, or with claims where there is no dispute about liability from the outset. It will also examine whether an alternative dispute resolution mechanism or a no-fault system would be effective in some cases;
The Expert Group will meet for the first time in early September and it will decide the scope of its work within its six month timelinework on this and its other Terms of Reference.
Mr Justice Meenan has informed me that he is a nephew of the late Professor Patrick N. Meenan, who died in 2008.