Brendan Daly (Fianna Fail)

Is the Minister of State aware of the number of outstanding Irish claims that have not been paid from this fund or the supplementary fund? If he does not have the information to hand he might communicate it to me later. I understand that payment in respect of at least one claim has been outstanding for a long time. While it is all very well to introduce detailed and technical legislation, there is a lack of expediency in the payment of claims. I refer in particular to the Kowloon Bridge incident where the Government expended a considerable amount of money removing oil from that ship when it ran aground off the south west coast. I am not satisfied that the compensation claim in respect of that incident was paid from the funds. Is there a reason for that and is there any way claims such as this can be expedited? A fund and a supplementary fund are in place, but it is impossible to secure payment of outstanding claims.