Departmental Legal Cases Data

Thursday, 24 October 2019

Ceisteanna (206)

Jonathan O'Brien

Ceist:

206. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of financial settlements reached by his Department and statutory bodies within his remit nationally; and the number which included confidentiality clauses in each of the past five years by organisation. [44054/19]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

It is not possible to provide the information requested in the required time. I will forward it to the Deputy as soon as it is available.

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 42A

The information requested is set out in the following table. As regards the 12 State Bodies under the aegis of my Department, the information requested is an operational matter for the State Bodies themselves. I have referred the Deputy’s question to the Agencies and have requested that a response should issue within ten days.

Year	Number of Settlements	Confidentiality Clauses *
2015	8	1
2016	9	2
2017	11	2
2018	12	3
2019	14	0

* With the exception of cases settled through mediation, which provides for absolute confidentiality, the State Claims Agency settles very few claims subject to a confidentiality agreement. The Agency does not formally record, on its IT system, the fact that any individual settlement is bound by a confidentiality clause, therefore this information is not readily available.