Martin Daly (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)

I would like to focus on one area because I have real concerns around it. It is a silent increase in cost to the health service, namely the State Claims Agency, medical indemnity and medical litigation. I know it has peaked in terms of what the Minister has applied for in the supplementary budget. I would really like to ask her about the progress of the implementation of Professor Rhona Mahony's report from September 2024. There is a huge cost here. Our overall liability at the end of 2024 is €4.3 billion. It is a huge amount of money. That is notwithstanding the validity of claims or the medical professionals who are defending those claims. It is a source of huge stress, not just for the people who are bringing those claims. The length of time it takes in this country to bring a claim to court or to settle a claim, at 1,462 days, is among the longest in the world. We are 50% higher than the UK, Hong Kong or Singapore, 26% more expensive than Singapore, 56% more than Malaysia and 191% more expensive than our closest neighbour, the UK. That is simply inexplicable. It is an area of huge cost to our health service. What is the Department doing in terms of the implementation?