Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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That is part of the problem. The chilling effect of litigation has its paws all over the Bill, which is understandable, but we have to ask why is that. The State pays out millions of euro every year in legal damages against a backdrop where we do not have proper, mandatory open disclosure. That litigious legal nightmare is still going on and that is partly down to an absence of proper open disclosure. Hopefully, if we get to the new place, that will reduce. The debate is how we get there. The Minister of State is saying we have to encourage medical providers gently and tell them that if they tell the truth, it will not harm them in the courts but I do not see it like that. The UK Government addressed this following the appalling scandal in Mid-Staffordshire Trust by establishing a mandatory statutory duty of candour. That has nothing to do with protection from liability whereas our legislation seems to be completely built on protection from liability.