Ms Louise McGirr:

The information we have is on the number and the growth in claims, which is probably a function of population size as well. I am not sure of the extent to which it is driven by things other than that. The rate of growth in the value of settlement is also going up, that is, the amounts of the settlements. As the Minister said earlier, the key thing with this is how we improve patient safety to minimise the harm done so that those claims fall systemically because harm is not being done. We and the Minister have done a lot on patient safety over the course of the year. The other key part is the State claims group, which is looking at the whole area of State claims, how to reduce them comprehensively and how to manage them in a more cost-effective and efficient way but, crucially, in terms of the harm done and reducing that. There will be updates on that later in the year.