Mr. Ciarán Breen:

For the convenience of the committee, I will take my opening statement as read and refer to some of its key points.

On page 2 of my submission I have set out the division between the general indemnity scheme and the clinical indemnity scheme, listing the respective numbers of claims and figures for outstanding liabilities. In regard to medical negligence generally, I mention the review of the administration of civil justice group which is chaired by the President of the High Court and the expert group to review the law of torts and the current systems for the management of clinical negligence claims which is chaired by Mr. Justice Meenan. The State Claims Agency is represented on that group, with others.

In the table on page 4 I have outlined an update on litigation pertaining to CervicalCheck, with information on litigation concerning other national screening services following in tables on page 5. I have given a note to the committee on the thalidomide litigation, outlining the current number of cases and matters relevant to that litigation.

My colleagues and I are happy to take questions the Chairman or committee members may have on the matters raised in the submission.