Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 338: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will indicate the numbers, if any, of in or out of court settlements made by his Department directly or by bodies directly or indirectly under his aegis for whatever reason in the past ten years to date; the extent, if any, to which a confidentiality clause was attached in any such agreements; if known, the cost or likely cost to the Exchequer arising therefrom, and under what particular heading any such charge might have been applied; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37714/11]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

As the Deputy will be aware my Department was established in 2007, and I can advise that my Department made the following settlements, with costs shown where available, from 2007 to date. No confidentiality clauses were attached to the agreements.

An out of court settlement in 2007, for a sum of €35,000, was made with a company which carried out a software upgrade for the Department. In 2010 a sum of €75,000 was paid in a settlement relating to the amount of grant aid due to a company for the provision of cable broadband infrastructure. The settlement costs settled a dispute over the amount of grant aid due to a company under a 2002 project, undertaken as part of an EU Economic Infrastructure Operational Programme. Agreement was reached on the case in 2010 after protracted engagement over a number of years.

In October 2011 settlement terms were agreed with respect to 2 sets of Judicial Review proceedings, related to the Corrib Gas project, instigated in the High Court. It was agreed that the State respondents, including my Department, would make a contribution towards the applicants' costs. The contribution made by my Department, in this regard was €231,916.67.

In the case of Removal of the Clondulane Weir, Lismore, County Waterford, a settlement has very recently been reached in advance of the hearing of the court case. The terms are that the parties will bear their own costs and the owners of the weir will pay all reasonable costs for its removal. Settlements made by the bodies under the aegis of my Department are day to day matters for those bodies.