Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

In the table on page 2, the claims that jump out are the big ones. There were 389 claims for Mountjoy Prison with an estimated liability of €14 million. There were 102 claims against the Portlaoise Prison campus. It is a lower number of claims but the potential liability is €12.9 million. It would be useful to pick out a few of these and ask the SCA to expand on the nature of the claims and what categories they are in, especially for the big ones. Cork Prison could also be picked out or Castlerea Prison which has 46 claims against it with a liability of €5 million. It would be worthwhile looking for a few of these to be expanded on.

On the following page, claims for Waterways Ireland are listed for the eastern, northern and western regions. We could probably do with a little more breakdown of the geographical areas, particularly for the northern region that may include a cross-Border element. Could we ask for more detail on those claims, focusing on what the claims were for and whether there is a cross-Border issue in the northern region?

With respect to No. 7 on audits, the State Claims Agency carries out audits to ensure the number of claims is reduced. I am concerned about Casement Aerodrome. I have a reply from the Tánaiste about this which I can give to the secretariat. The last time the SCA did an audit was in 2012, but there are more recent claims.

It is to make sure the harm reduction piece is done by making sure it is in compliance. The first of the 11 claims was received by the State Claims Agency in 2013 and the most recent in 2020. I am reading from point 8 on the response. They may be historical claims but it would be useful to know whether they are historical. It would also be worth asking whether it is intended to carry out another audit.