Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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610. To ask the Minister for Health if his Department, or the agencies that report to his Department, entered into any non-disclosure or confidentiality agreements with any organisation due to court action or a threatened court action; and if so, the persons or groups with which these agreements exist. [37630/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The State Claims Agency, within the National Treasury Management Agency, which is under the aegis of the Department of Finance, manages personal injury, property damage and clinical negligence claims brought against certain State authorities, including Government ministers and health enterprises. The vast majority of claims under the remit of the State Claims Agency are resolved without confidentiality agreements attaching. Confidentiality agreements typically apply to claims in respect of minors or claims associated with abuse or specific medical negligence issues. The agreements, where entered into at the behest of either party, preclude the disclosure of settlement details by either party.

Regarding other settlements in the Department, in September 2012 the Minister entered into an agreement with the Medical Defence Union in settlement of litigation. This agreement is subject to a confidentiality clause.

My officials are awaiting further clarification from the Deputy in relation to the specific details he requires on non-disclosure or confidentiality agreements with persons or groups and when this is supplied I will forward a reply to the Deputy as soon as possible. I will also send the question to the HSE and the other agencies under the aegis of my Department, when the specific details of the question are clarified and they too will be requested to reply directly to the Deputy.