Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The family to which Deputy Pearse Doherty refers is clearly going through a very traumatic time. I assure him that the State, through the HSE, Kerry University Hospital and the Department of Health, will do everything it can to ensure the individual concerned gets the maximum care possible to manage what sounds like a case of terminal illness.

My understanding is that three legal proceedings have been issued in relation to cases that were dealt with in the report. The State Claims Agency will be managing those cases. It is always the objective of the State to try to deal with such cases in a patient-centred compassionate manner to prevent families having to go to court. That is not always possible but that is what the State Claims Agency will try to do.

See this speech in context