Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this very important matter for discussion. I had hoped the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, would be in attendance as I have been continually stonewalled by her and her Department on this issue. A retired garda attended one of my advice clinics in September and conveyed a concerning situation surrounding a compensation claim which has been sitting in the Department of Justice and Equality for two years awaiting further assessment. I will not go into personal details but this relatively young garda suffered malicious injury in the line of duty. According to a document which he produced, the Garda chief medical officer had passed it on to the Department of Justice and Equality in January 2014. This was confirmed by the Minister in a response to a parliamentary question.

The original application for compensation was made in 2010, which was five years ago. Garda authorities forwarded their report on the claim in January 2014 and it has remained in the Department awaiting further assessment. It was also confirmed by the Minister in her response to my parliamentary question that at the end of October 2015 there were 317 outstanding applications for Garda compensation under assessment by the Department of Justice and Equality. I asked the Minister for further details on the years in which these applications were received and their current stage of assessment. The Minister refused to provide the information, stating "such information could only be obtained by the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of staff time and resources".

I was wholly unsatisfied with the response received from the Minister, which raised more questions than it answered. It seems that the devil lies in the detail here. For this reason, I made further inquiries into the matter via parliamentary questions. I asked the Minister to spell out how many gardaí in Carlow, Kilkenny and the south east are waiting for their claims to be processed. Unfortunately, she refused to provide that information to me once again, citing the lack of computerised records as a reason she could not provide the figures.

This again highlights clearly how the Garda has been starved of vital resources. The lack of computerisation should not be an issue in this day and age. The retired garda who first approached me was a relatively young man.

I am gravely concerned about these gardaí, many of whom I am told are elderly, who are struggling financially while awaiting payment of their compensation claims in respect of which the Department of Justice and Equality is dragging its feet. The least we can do for gardaí injured while on duty is ensure their compensation claims are processed without delay, irrespective of the outcome of the claim. No person, particularly older retired members who have been significantly injured while on duty, should be forced to wait years to have his or her claims reviewed and decided on.

I am calling for a review of the manner in which compensation claims for serving and retired members of An Garda Síochána are processed. This is a serious matter. I understand more than 900 gardaí have lodged claims for compensation, 317 of which have been processed by An Garda Síochána and are now with the Department of Justice and Equality. I would like an explanation from the Minister on the reason this process is so lengthy. As I said many of those awaiting compensation, who have mortgages and are in dire straits financially, were injured while on duty. The Department needs to speed up the process in this regard and ensure these people are given their just rewards.

Will the Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar, relay to the Minister for Justice and Equality the fact I would like these claims brought to a conclusion as quickly as possible?

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