Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 10 April 2019

Select Committee on Health

Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised)

Photo of Simon HarrisSimon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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A figure of €360 million has been budgeted for this year for the State Claims Agency. Of course, that is not all for legal fees - nor am I suggesting it is - but that is the Estimate for the State Claims Agency this year. As a Government, we are doing a number of things to try to address the issue and reduce the amount involved, of which open disclosure is one element. We all know - Dr. Scally talks about this issue passionately, with conviction and from experience - that often an early admission that a mistake was made, a genuine apology and learning are what we want as citizens, but all too often we have found someone has to go down the adversarial route to get answers.