Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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898. To ask the Minister for Health the amount paid in legal costs to each of the top ten legal firms representing plaintiffs in medical negligence cases in 2020; the number of cases that payments relate to in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16467/21]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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899. To ask the Minister for Health the amount paid out in legal costs to each of the top ten named legal firms representing the agency in medical negligence cases in 2020; the number of cases that payments relate to in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16468/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 898 and 899 together.

The State Claims Agency (SCA) has a statutory remit to manage personal injury claims on behalf of Delegated State Authorities including the Health Service Executive. The State Claims Agency has provided me with the following information, in respect of the Deputy's questions.

- The information contained below has been extracted from the National Incident Management System (NIMS).

- Medical negligence claims are identified on NIMS through the Incident / Hazard Category of Clinical Care

- Plaintiff legal costs relate to the payment made to the Plaintiff’s legal team i.e. Solicitors and Counsel and are also inclusive of expert fees which are discharged by the Plaintiff’s solicitor. These expert fees may relate to actuarial, engineering, medical, witness fees etc.

- Agency Legal costs relate to fees to solicitors engaged by the Agency.

- The legal costs sums include VAT.

Criteria used

- Table 1 shows the top 10 named Legal firms representing plaintiff legal costs made in relation to Clinical Care claims in 2020 with highest paid totals.

-Table 2 shows the top 10 named Legal firms representing the State Claims Agency by solicitor fees made in relation to Clinical Care claims in 2020 with highest paid totals

- This report is correct as of 28/02/2021

Question 1: Top 10 Legal Firms by Plaintiff Legal Costs paid in 2020

Table 1: Top 10 Legal firms representing Plaintiffs by total costs paid and number of claims involved in payments for 2020

Question 2: Top 10 Legal Firms by Agency Solicitor Legal Costs paid in 2020

Table 2: Top 10 Legal firms representing the State Claims Agency by total costs paid and number of claims involved in payments for 2020