Mr. Maurice Buckley:

The State Claims Agency is the insurance company for the State, so to speak. A body like the OPW does not have private insurance through an insurance company. The State Claims Agency looks after all claims, whether from the public for slips and trips at a heritage site or from a member of staff. The compensation is worked out and agreed. It comes from our Vote but the agency does the processing and the negotiation. It handles any legal matters that are necessary and reports back to the organisation. We also work with the State Claims Agency to improve health and safety standards. That is important to us. We work on that all the time. We take seriously the feedback from the agency.