Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 8 November 2018

Public Accounts Committee

Matters related to Medical Negligence, Open Disclosure, Cervical Cancer and Thalidomide Litigation

9:00 am

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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I will move on to another area regarding the State Claims Agency. It relates to the Air Corps. The Air Corps used to hold information in relation to health and safety. Deputy Ó Snodaigh looked for information and stated it was misplaced. Subsequently, there was a court case. There were some whistleblowers. The State Claims Agency stated that no admission was made that the defendants exposed the plaintiff to dangerous chemicals or solvents, and that is the nub of what it relates to. The State Claims Agency stated that it could confidently claim that there were no injuries due to any act or omission on its part and yet there was no documentation that could provide that confidence. Subsequently, there was a report, the O'Toole report, which stated that the records to demonstrate health and safety compliance are not readily available. In such a situation where there is the absence of information, how can the State Claims Agency state it can confidently predict or state something when records were not available?