Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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There would be various reasons. The payments being made this year will, for example, relate to cases from quite some time ago. We will get the Deputy a more detailed note in terms of legal fees versus payments.

We want to achieve a few things. First and foremost, we want to maximise patient safety. Second, where there is a mistake or where there is a catastrophic birth injury or something else in respect of which payment is required, we want non-judicial processes. Dr. Mahony's report looks into this as well. Litigation is obviously always available but it should be a last resort as opposed to sometimes being the only thing that patients and families can opt for. Third, we want to bring costs down. Given the time between when something happens and a payment being made, it will be a number of years before patient safety improvements that have been made over the past two to three years will result in a reduction in the level of payment made.