Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I ask for a debate with the Minister for Finance about how the State Claims Agency defends litigation involving the State, in particular, the need to avoid unnecessary court cases. Guidelines may be needed. The State Claims Agency handles much of the litigation where the State is concerned.The agency is actually the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, operating under a different guise. The NTMA reports directly to the Minister for Finance on the performance of its State Claims Agency functions. I request a debate with the Minister on this matter and the need to put guidelines in place, particularly in the light of the experience of one family in County Kerry whose case was highlighted in the media recently. The family's son was born at Kerry General Hospital in May 2006 and, tragically, suffered a severe brain injury at birth. He has cerebral palsy and is completely dependent on others for all of his daily needs. The family which recently reached an interim €2.8 million settlement with the Health Service Executive, HSE, states the consultant who delivered their child met them shortly after his birth, apologised for what had happened and cried with them. However, it was not until February that the HSE admitted liability. The boy's mother said the attitude adopted by the HSE had caused huge stress to the family and resulted in a long legal battle. In turn, the HSE indicated that the State Claims Agency, not it, made decisions on the legal approach taken in such cases. It also stated it did not know why it had taken so long for a settlement to be reached and that it had a policy of open disclosure at the earliest opportunity whereby it would admit liability in cases of wrongdoing.

In many instances there is a clear tort leader which gives rise to liability on the part of a hospital. In such cases the only legal issue to be determined is the extent of damages or the level of compensation to be awarded. This can be done in an application to the High Court to measure damages where liability is not an issue. Clear guidelines governing the manner in which the State Claims Agency approaches cases in which there is clear liability and this has been acknowledged by the HSE and the hospitals involved must be put in place. The HSE and hospitals should not be allowed to withhold an admission of liability as a negotiating tactic in circumstances where there is an implicit threat to the family. It should not be a case of people being told, "Accept our offer of damages or risk a court case". It is unseemly for a State agency to treat families in the manner I have outlined, particularly where there is the option of using the relatively non-adversarial procedure of asking the High Court to measure damages. In many cases families seek only an apology and funds to allow them to offer long-term care to their disabled children. Such families should not be put through the wringer by any State agency. It is clear that guidelines are necessary. I would appreciate it if we could engage in a debate with the Minister on this specific issue.