Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and there are a number of different strands to this. Where a case is taken, we need to ensure that case and claim are dealt with as efficiently as possible. None of us want to see instances where, especially in the case of catastrophic injuries, it takes many years and eventually on the steps of a court a settlement is agreed. We are seeing an increasing role for mediation in the settlement of these cases. The State Claims Agency has a difficult job to do in managing clinical negligence cases on behalf of the State but we also have a duty to the people who are bringing the claims and who, in many instances, have an entitlement to compensation as a result of what has happened. Looking at mediation, for example, 59% of claims resolved by the State Claims Agency in 2021 were resolved without court proceedings being served. That is a good start but we need to build on that and go further. Mediation is particularly suitable for complex clinical claims. Some 37% of claims were concluded by the clinical claims team in 2021 where damages were paid in the mediation process, compared with 25% of claims in 2020.

The Deputy touches on the root cause of the issue and we have to ensure we reduce the number of incidents where reason is given for claims to be brought in the first place. As would be expected, the HSE is placing an enormous focus on this through the patient safety strategy, which is being implemented. We expect that to have an impact over time. The Deputy is right to point to the dramatic increase in the cost of such claims. That is why in January of this year the Government approved the establishment of a new working group to examine the rising cost of health-related claims and to consider mechanisms to reduce costs. It will examine the rising cost of clinical negligence claims in the health system with a focus on high-value claims, and it will identify measures that could be put in place to reduce future costs. It is being chaired independently by Dr. Rhona Mahony and is comprised of membership from across key Departments and Government agencies. That also builds on the work of Mr. Justice Meenan's expert group on tort reform and the management of clinical negligence claims and its report, which identified a number of key issues that are being worked on by the Department of Justice. This includes the issue of the real rate of return and the volatility in some of the catastrophic birth injury settlements we are seeing.

We need to remove the incentive for cases to have to go that far and then have a system that ensures cases are settled far earlier. In addition to all of that, we must try to deal with the root causes and the issue the Deputy has referred to, namely, the response of the medical profession and the impact that may have on patients due to the fear of a claim being brought.

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